Stalybridge Celtic 0 Worcester City 1

IT looked like a huge weight had been lifted off Worcester City’s players when the final whistle sounded at Moss Lane.

After four-and-a-half frustrating and often miserable months without a win in National League North Worcester finally claimed maximum points, beating second-from-bottom Stalybridge Celtic.

And this long-awaited win courtesy of Jordan Murphy’s 48th-minute strike may have come at just the right time in their fight to stay up.

With Gainsborough Trinity conceding at the death to draw 3-3 with Darlington City moved two points clear of the bottom three.

And with the monkey off their back the Blue and Whites will hope to use this confidence-boosting victory as a springboard for their final six games of the season.

During City’s 18-match winless streak they lost a manager in Carl Heeley, a prolific striker in Lee Hughes and suffered a series of defeats, including back-to-back losses to Boston United and Brackley Town heading into this game.

But to their credit and thanks to the help of caretaker boss John Snape and his assistant Danny Jackman they have battled on bravely and given themselves a chance of avoiding the drop.

With Stalybridge’s Bower Fold home deemed unplayable the fixture was moved to Altrincham where Worcester crashed to arguably their most painful loss this term.

But they seemed determined to lay that ghost to rest against a side who were looking to keep their slim hopes of survival alive.

Junior English went close to giving the visitors the lead on 17 minutes when his header bounced beyond the far post from Cieron Keane’s corner.

City were stringing some nice passages of play together but both teams lacked quality in the final third.

Worcester almost made a costly mistake at the other end as Andy Gallinagh’s back-pass fell to Andy Bishop.

But keeper Nathan Vaughan and defender Graham Hutchison snuffed out the danger and kept the scores level at half-time.

A draw would do neither side any favours though especially with Gainsborough leading 2-1 at the break but City responded three minutes into the second half.

After Vaughan saved a powerful strike from Darren McKnight Worcester launched it long and the ball fell to the feet of Murphy.

The forward, who has found his scoring boots in recent weeks, then drove forward before confidently dispatching his shot low past Grant Shenton.

The goal was a big boost for City and gave them something to hold on to as they began to dig their heels in.

Hutchison and James Chambers were solid at the back but Worcester did have their nervy moments.

Danny Morton was presented with a great chance when the ball broke to him in the box but Ebby Nelson-Addy got back to make a superb challenge.

Matt Regan then saw his effort come off the post in the final 10 minutes as Stalybridge searched for the equaliser.

But City refused to simply soak up pressure as they had opportunities themselves to put the game to bed.

Murphy fired over after being put in a good position by Keane while youngster Callum Devlin had an impressive late cameo as Worcester clinched a rare win.