IN the space of four days Worcester City have been beaten by both of the Conference North title contenders.

On both occasions they have failed to score and have conceded six goals across the two fixtures.

Factor in September’s two away games and it’s a similar tale — five goals against and none scored.

Sandwiched between was the FA Trophy match against Barrow at Aggborough in November which Worcester won 3-0 with Sean Geddes scoring two stunning goals.

All this tells its own story. Worcester are not a bad side, they’re just not as good as Barrow or Fylde, who are also better than the other 19 teams in Conference North.

City have their moments and are capable of beating the top teams on their day but doing it consistently eludes them. That’s not meant to be derogatory, it’s just a fact and the statistics back it up.

Carl Heeley’s side produced a better performance against Barrow than against Fylde but still came up short.

This time, Geddes had his moment to put the Bluebirds on the back foot but put his 24th-minute penalty too close to Aaran Taylor and the keeper denied him.

Had that gone in, there might have been a different outcome. To compound the issue, Barrow full-back Andy Burns can count himself extremely lucky not to have been sent off for hauling down City’s top-scorer just yards from goal.

The prospect of being a goal and a man better off avoided, the visitors went on to take the lead 11 minutes later through Anthony Wilson, the striker controlling Danny Livesey’s long pass before drilling home, and substitute Andy Cook added another in second-half stoppage time.

Crucially, Barrow took their chances; City didn’t.

Cook also had the ball in the net moments before but his effort was ruled offside and led to him getting booked for a disgraceful show of dissent towards the linesman.

But the fact Barrow could leave out Cook, a man who had 22 goals to his name before entering the fray, speaks volume for the gulf between the teams, the majority of which is financial.

Geddes and Daniel Nti have 23 between them this season and the supporting cast of Mike Symons and Tristian Dunkley are a long way back.

Yet more evidence of the haves and have nots of non-league’s second tier.

All of this might seem depressing but Worcester have done well this term, it’s just that playing the top two teams inside a week brings the issue into sharper focus.

Last Tuesday, Worcester were outplayed by Fylde in losing 4-0. That wasn’t the case on Saturday.

Bolstered by the additions of the returning Rob Elvins and Jay Denny, City were a tougher nut to crack.

It’s not been a great few days for Worcester but they’ll be better ones to come.