WORCESTER City put a disastrous start behind them to claim a fine win at 10-man Hinckley United and secure three precious Blue Square Bet North points.

The St George’s Lane side were two down inside 10 minutes at the Greene King Stadium through Tom Byrne and Danny Newton but had restored parity before the break with Lee Smith’s first goal for the club and captain Kevin O’Connor’s second goal of the season.

Carl Heeley’s team continued their momentum after the break and sealed victory with Simon Brown’s 59th minute penalty, awarded after Richard Lavery had fouled Danny Carey-Bertram and been sent off.

Smith was starting a game for the first time since his suspension for an outburst on Twitter, while Matt Birley and Brown also came in with leading scorer Mike Symons struggling with a back problem and Rob Elvins arriving with his injured shoulder in a sling.

Martyn Naylor, sent off against Hyde on Saturday, returned at right-back as Lee Ayres joined Danny Edwards on the bench, along with youth team midfielder Josh Smith.

An error-strewn opening saw City fall behind in the sixth minute when goalkeeper David Bevan’s punt downfield was left by Ryan Clarke and Byrne nipped in to score.

City were still reeling when they conceded again four minutes later following another defensive howler. Jacob Rowe tried to play the ball square to Clarke but it was smartly intercepted by Newton and he crashed the ball beyond Sargeant.

Heeley was livid but his side reduced their arrears barely 120 seconds later. This time it was Hinckley’s turn to slip up in defence as Tom Thorley’s cross was only headed out to Smith and he struck a firm strike past Bevan.

Birley came close to equalising in the 25th minute, his rasping right-footer rattling the post as Worcester began to get the upper hand.

The visitors, who had Thorley harshly booked for a foul on United captain Andy Gooding, drew level three minutes before the break through a moment of quality from O’Connor.

The skipper collected the ball on the left before cutting inside to crack a sweet effort past Bevan.

Sargeant pushed Byrne’s shot past the post early in the second-half but moments later City took the lead for the first time.

Carey-Bertram was bundled over in the box by Lavery, who was shown a red card for the challenge, and, despite Thorley scoring two penalties at the weekend, Brown stepped up to drive the ball down the centre of the goal.

Sub Edwards and Naylor both went close as Worcester sought a fourth but the visitors also flirted with danger in the closing stages as Hinckley piled forward without success.

City: Sargeant 7, Naylor 7, Cartwright 7, Thorley 8*, Rowe 7, Clarke 6, L Smith 7 (Edwards 61, 7), O'Connor 7, Carey-Bertram 6 (Taylor 78), Brown 7, Birley 7. Subs not used: J Smith, Ayres.

Attendance: 377.