Monday, August 11, 2003

Worcester City signed off their pre-season programme in style last night with an impressive 3-0 victory at Stourport Swifts.

First half goals from Leon Kelly (2) and a fine 30-yard strike from Adam Webster sealed victory and City would have doubled their tally but for a combination of the Swifts' keeper Lee Evans and the crossbar.

Chief tormentor was the dazzling Adam Wilde who cut through the Walshes Meadow side at will, while having a hand in two of the goals.

If Worcester manager John Barton was pleased with his side's attacking prowess, Swifts boss Dave Titterton, will have been worried by the lack of his team's cutting edge plus the puzzling no show by strikers Richard Ball and Jamie Woods prior to the match.

City wasted little time in asserting their authority and were ahead after four minutes when John Snape's quickly-taken free kick caught Swifts napping and Wilde's perfectly placed cross picked out Kelly for the easiest of tap-ins.

The menacing Wilde was then freed by the deftest of touches from Kelly but the lurking Mark Owen just failed to capitalise as his shot was blocked.

With Swifts rapidly coming apart at the seams, Webster doubled City's advantage in the 13th minute with a raking shot that found the corner from fully 30 yards.

Five minutes later, a superb Wilde pass teed up Kelly who expertly picked his spot in the right hand corner of the net.

With City poised to cut loose, Kelly was brutally bodychecked by former Atherstone team-mate John Newall, eventually forcing him to limp off with a dead leg in the 31st minute to be replaced by Stewart Hadley.

Dan Jones, staking a legitimate claim to the left back spot in the anticipated absence of both Paul Carty and Kevin Halliday for Saturday's opener against Havant & Waterlooville, wriggled through before dragging a shot wide on the stroke of half time.

The second half was more of the same with Wilde bisecting the Swifts backline only to be thwarted by a fine save from Evans.

A last-ditch block in the 54th minute denied Hadley while the luckless Owen saw a 71st minute snapshot strike the bar as did a Webster header, palmed onto the woodwork by an Evans reflex save, four minutes from time.

Swifts showed some improvement in the second half but a Dan Parker mistake aside had no clear sniff of the City goal while on the one occasion the path did open up, Danny McDonnell was out quickly to deny Kerry Giddings.

Swifts: Evans, Jones, Cotterill, (Webb 34), Mulders (D Davies 56), Ulfig, Newall, Sayer (Hill 570, Harris, Giddings, Wright, Shirley.

City: McDonnell, A Davies, Jones, Holloway (Parker 72), Woolley (Heeley 60), Snape, Middleton (Holmes 60), Webster, Owen, Kelly (Hadley 31), Wilde (Counsell 60).

A Worcester City XI visit Malvern Town for a friendly tonight (7.30pm).