IT remains to be seen how important a point at fellow strugglers Dorchester Town will prove to be for Worcester City.

When Craig Wilding put the visitors ahead with his fifth goal of the season, City looked to be heading for their first away victory in nine months.

But Dorchester were inspired by the arrival of substitute Andre McCollin and, within 60 seconds, he had set-up Matt Groves for the equaliser.

Both sides sought a winner but their frantic attempts to emerge with three points and climb away from the Blue Square South relegation zone went unrewarded.

Following three straight defeats, manager Richard Dryden would have targeted this fixture for success, not least because City hammered Roy O’Brien’s men 4-0 at St George’s Lane in September.

The one thing he could not afford was to allow the Dorset outfit to put breathing space between the sides in the table.

Restricting the Magpies to a point achieved that objective, but City may feel this was an opportunity missed.

Gary Walker, who seemed to cover every blade of grass on the pitch, was unfortunate to see a first-half effort ruled out by the assistant’s flag and Marco Adaggio rattled the woodwork with a scorching strike in the final seconds.

Adaggio was paired up front with Rob Elvins, returning after a three-match ban, as former Weston-super-Mare colleagues Marc McGregor and Marvin Brown were dropped to the bench.

Dryden also handed keeper Jake Meredith, out through injury since signing in the summer, his competitive debut in place of Ben Hinchliffe.

Given the gale-force winds which battered the Jewson Stadium and everyone in it from pillar to post, the former Team Bath custodian might have hoped for an easier introduction.

Conditions put the outcome of many first-half passes in the lap of the gods and several Dorchester crosses behaved more like boomerangs.

Meredith wisely opted to punch clear when under pressure but provided a heart-in-the-mouth moment when he came charging out of his area to meet Ryan Moss, completely missed the ball and was lucky to see the striker lose possession.

However, by and large the players coped well with the swirling elements and provided an entertaining contest, particularly in the second-half once the wind had dropped.

The first-half was, not surprisingly, an untidy spectacle but both teams fashioned chances to have taken the lead.

Moments after clearing Ian Selley’s corner off his own goal-line, Walker popped up at the other end to finish Wayne Daniel’s cross after a quick Adaggio break, only to see the flag raised.

Groves looped an effort over Meredith and inches wide of the far post for the hosts and Wilding did well to block from the same player as half-time approached.

Meredith flew to his left to save from Grove at the start of the second period but Worcester, skippered by Mark Clyde in the absence of Tom Kemp, began to dominate proceedings.

The goal arrived on 54 minutes. Matt Dinsmore cut the ball back to Wilding on the edge of the area and he fired a firm strike beyond Regan Coward into the bottom corner.

Rob Elvins shot straight at Coward as Dryden’s men sought a second but the introduction of McCollin gave Dorchester a new lease of life.

The on-loan Yeovil forward caused havoc down the left and, after dribbling his way into the box, supplied the pass for Groves to side-foot past a static Meredith.

Suddenly it was the Magpies who sensed victory but they were stopped in their tracks by a flurry of bookings on either side.

The Magpies’ momentum halted, City piled forward and Adaggio came within a post’s width of turning one point into three.