Saturday, March 13, 2004

ST George's Lane is rapidly becoming the hottest ticket in town.

Worcester's nightclubs might have the girls but the Lane has got the goals and plenty of them too!

Nine goals in consecutive games, a fifth straight win on home soil and unbeaten in nine league games -- City are flying. Weymouth watch out!

Terras player-boss Steve Claridge is no stranger to gambling on dark horses -- what price City then for a dramatic late run for the Dr Martens Premier Division title?

Long odds maybe but it adds to the expectancy surrounding tomorrow night's eagerly anticipated dust-up in Dorset at the Wessex Stadium.

While City's victory on Saturday against Grantham didn't quite scale the heights of the Dover Athletic display last weekend they still oozed menace in front of goal.

And it proved too powerful for the Gingerbreads, whose desperation to escape the clutches of the drop zone, added a niggly, ugly dimension to the game which, to be fair, City embraced with equal relish.

Jon Holloway broke the deadlock -- and opened up the game -- with a tremendous near post header from Adam Wilde's corner that flew in off the upright on 28 minutes.

Within 60 seconds it was nearly two when a reverse pass from Adam Webster found Wilde in space on the edge of the box but his thunderous left-foot shot cannoned down off the crossbar before being cleared.

City warmed to their task in the sunshine but rather than extending their lead, slack defending presented Jamie March with a half chance which he drilled, via a wicked deflection, past a helpless Danny McDonnell.

Kelly's sharp reactions restored City's lead on 37 minutes when he pounced on Mario Zaccardi's parried save from a dipping Wilde volley to slot in a first time rebound from 10 yards. The striker was close to claiming his 16th league goal moments later, courtesy of an instant touch by Webster but this time Zaccardi made the save at full stretch to his left.

Referee Chris Miller's failure to clamp down on some wild tackles generated howls of protest not least when Wilde was hacked down on the right hand side of the box but awarded neither a penalty or a free kick.

It proved academic on 54 minutes when Zaccardi's mindless shove on Webster at a corner conceded a needless penalty which Wilde gratefully side-footed home.

Better was to come just four minutes later when Jai Stanley's sweetly struck free kick from just behind the D spliced the wall and found the top corner. Game over.

John Snape, inspired by last week's goal, went looking for more and forced a sharp stop from Zaccardi following yet more dazzling footwork by Wilde.

Meanwhile Pat Lyons, still without a goal this season, created a marvellous opportunity for himself, jinking into the six-yard box but, in typically unselfish style, he spurned a shot, squaring instead to Webster who was sent tumbling but no penalty was awarded.

The mood however soured when Jamie Kearns thrust his head into Wilde's face. His aggressive actions didn't even merit a booking from Mr Miller.

There was further incredulity when Adrian Speed rugby-tackled Kelly but picked up merely a yellow.

Barton later quizzed the referee, to be told the two full backs closing in on Kelly had spared Speed a red card. City's boss remarked wryly: "They could have had two greyhounds closing in and they wouldn't have caught Leon." A fair comment considering Kelly's blistering speed.

A resurgent Wilde felt both he and City had coped well with Grantham's shenanigans.

"They're not a bad team but in the end I think the scoreline started to frustrate them and they were kicking out here and there but you've just got to rise above it and play on," he said.

"We're getting a bit of consistency which we said we needed. We're starting to play really well at home and we've got to keep it going to the end of the season."

"I'm enjoying it. I'm running at people and things are happening for me."

That they certainly are! Roll on tomorrow night.