Worcester City 2 Nuneaton Town 3

THERE is no doubt Worcester City have come a long way since ending an awful August at the bottom of Vanarama National League North.

But, while their resurgence in form in September has been impressive, Saturday’s defeat to Nuneaton Town shows there is plenty of room for improvement as they head into October.

Having recorded three clean sheet in their last four games, City appeared to have sorted themselves out at the back.

However, their defensive problems were brought back into focus by Nuneaton who exposed some slack marking at the Victoria Ground.

Elliott Whitehouse simply tucked away his first when Billy Daniels cut the ball back across the six-yard area to the unmarked midfielder.

And Whitehouse’s second came just as easily moments later as he was found in acres of space at the back post to head the ball past a hapless Ryan Boot.

Manager Carl Heeley would have hoped his side would have learnt their lessons but on 60 minutes they conceded from a corner again.

This time, Aaron Williams was not picked up in City’s box and the striker made the hosts pay with a thumping header.

All three goals will frustrate Heeley who has seen his team come on in leaps and bounds in the past four weeks.

Looking to extend their six-match unbeaten streak, Worcester started positively and opened the scoring on 19 minutes.

After Boro goalkeeper Christian Dibble flapped at Andy Gallinagh’s cross, Colby Bishop’s header was cleared off the line by Kelvin Langmead before Cieron Keane smashed home the rebound.

Whitehouse’s quick-fire double just after the half-hour mark put the visitors in front but City hit back three minutes later.

Shortly after City’s calls for a penalty were ignored after Lee Hughes went down in the box, the striker responded in emphatic fashion.

The 40-year-old collected Chekaine Steele’s pass on the edge of the area before cutting inside and rolling the ball into the bottom corner for his 10th goal of the season.

With Steele causing problems down the right, Boro left-back Ben O’Hanlon was hauled off at half-time.

But he was perhaps fortunate to stay on the pitch until that point as he committed a number of fouls with only one resulting in a yellow card.

Captain Danny Jackman, who was returning to the side in place of the injured Junior English, stood out for City in the opening period with his composure on the ball.

The same could not be said for his midfield partner Ebby Nelson-Addy, who looked all over the place at times.

So it came as a big surprise to the home fans when Jackman made way for Richard Batchelor four minutes after Williams made it 3-2 to Boro.

Attackers Jordan Murphy and Nathan Olukanmi were also brought on in a bid to spark Worcester back into life.

But the Blue and Whites’ efforts this month, which included securing four wins, seem to have finally caught up with them as they ran out of steam.

Fortunately, they will now have a week to recharge their batteries before hosting Brackley Town in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup on Saturday.