JOINT-boss Dene Whittal-Williams praised the killer instinct shown by Kyonn Evans as Malvern Town ruthlessly punished Pershore Town’s lack of punch and fortune.

The Hillsiders seized upon missed chances by immediately taking their own in Tuesday's tight 2-0 FA Vase first qualifying round replay.

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Harry Clark may have felt fortunate to see his volley squeeze through the dive of Toby Wilcox just before the break.

But Evans wrapped it up with a dipping strike worthy of winning any game, unleashing a swerving shot from the left edge of the box that flew into the top far corner nine minutes from the end.

Both goals came moments after Pershore had their best chances with Whittal-Williams acknowledging Evans had struck at just the right time.

“Kyonn taking his chance to kill off the game was vital, we had been under a lot of pressure in the second half to be fair to them,” he said.

“Had we not scored at that point the pressure would only have grown and that is one of Kyonn’s strengths.

“When he is firing and confident he can do that and I was pleased for him, he deserved it for his work rate.

“The first half was scrappy, very similar to Sunday in being a battle with everyone getting stuck in.

“We got a bit of joy in wide areas and expected more of that in the second half but it didn’t really happen, we went off the boil a little.

“I thought we edged the first half and that Pershore were better for the majority of the second but we managed to keep the ball out of the net.”

Matt Pinder and Zaqib Hussain rattled the woodwork before Clark struck, while Pinder cleared the bar from point-blank range prior to Evans wrapping up the victory.

The home side also had to contend with injuries to Dane Aldington and skipper Shaun Griffiths midway through the first half, adding to a casualty list featuring Matt Gwynne, Steve Webb and pre-match withdrawal Ben Lane.

“It did disrupt us but I felt we coped well and that there wasn't much between the sides,” said Pershore manager Les Jones.

“They possibly looked more dangerous in the final third but we had an equal number of chances.

“We hit the post and the bar then they got a bobbly goal which broke the deadlock, although they probably deserved that after the pressure they had.

“I heard reports that Malvern underperformed on Sunday, well I think they must have underperformed again because the sides were very close and to win by two goals flattered them.

“I was quite pleased with the performance, particularly after losing so many players.

“I thought their keeper was man of the match and then think back to them equalising in the 91st minute on Sunday so it is total frustration for us.

“Still, I was pleased with the way the players dealt with the adversity.”