Tamworth 3 Worcester City 0

JUST when Worcester City appeared to have put wind in their sails, they were swept aside by a ruthless Tamworth team.

A run of three successive victories, including back-to-back league wins, seemed to have steadied City’s ship after a rocky start to the season.

But they were blown back off-course by the Lambs, who used the blustery conditions to their advantage.

Goals from Ross Dyer, Shane Clarke and a penalty from Leon Mettam saw the hosts stretch their unbeaten record at The Lamb Ground to 10 Vanarama National League North games.

However, the visitors did not help their own cause as Tyler Weir received Worcester’s eighth red card of the season when he brought down Mettam, who then dispatched the spot-kick.

City also gifted Tamworth the opener as Weir was dispossessed by Dyer on the edge of the area and the striker drove the ball through Nathan Vaughan’s legs.

This clinical edge in front of goal was something Worcester lacked all afternoon as they wasted numerous opportunities to test James Belshaw.

The first of those came on the 22nd minute when Daniel Nti harmlessly headed over Ebby Nelson-Addy’s cross.

But the most glaring of their missed chances went to a player, who is no stranger to hitting the back of the net.

After pouncing on a long ball, Deon Burton only had Belshaw to beat but the former Derby County striker struck it wide.

Vaughan was keeping his side in touch as he denied Dan Preston with a superb one-handed save before turning Elliott Durrell’s curling shot round the post.

Despite his best efforts, though, City’s five-man midfield, which included the returning Connor Gater, struggled to match their opposite numbers’ physicality.

And, with two minutes of the second half gone, the Blue and Whites received a further setback when Clarke smashed home from close range after Dyer bravely flicked the ball on with a diving header.

With opportunities continually being missed by City, their frustration was clear as Lee Hughes and Weir followed Nti and Wayne Thomas into the referee’s book.

Weir’s afternoon then went from bad to worse on the 70th minute as he was given his marching orders after tripping up Mettam.

The striker coolly sent Vaughan the wrong way to all but seal victory but Worcester still had plenty of chances to give their fans something to savour.

Alex Gudger looked on in disbelief when he headed narrowly wide before Hughes and Sean Geddes failed to trouble Belshaw with efforts from the edge of the area.

In the end, City were thankful for having Vaughan between the sticks as the City stopper showed superb reflexes to palm over Mettam’s shot from point-blank range.