CHEKAINE Steele and Lee Hughes struck late on to secure Worcester City a dramatic 3-1 victory at 10-man AFC Telford United in the FA Cup tonight.

A 30th-minute strike from Dave Hibbert put Telford in front but a red card for Jonathan Royle in the second half turned the match on its head.

Cieron Keane got a fortuitous equaliser before Steele and Hughes netted in the final five minutes to seal a third qualifying round tie at home to Brackley Town a week on Saturday.

After the frustration of a 0-0 draw in the first tie in Bromsgrove on Saturday, City were boosted by Graham Hutchison and Junior English returning from suspension.

Midfielder English replaced skipper Danny Jackman and Sam Oji made way for centre-back Hutchison.

Telford brought in Sean Williams, who almost made a sensational impact as his long-distance effort on six minutes was tipped over by keeper Ryan Boot.

The hosts made their intentions clear in the opening 20 minutes as City’s Ebby Nelson-Addy and Tyler Weir were on the receiving end of crunching tackles, resulting in bookings for Royle and Hibbert.

With Steele looking lively, City created a few decent chances early on.

Hughes forced a save from keeper James Montgomery before Steele put a header wide after Keane found him at the back post.

But Telford played with the greater intensity and soon opened the scoring.

Hibbert picked up the ball 30 yards out before unleashing a fizzing shot which proved too good for Boot.

City piled forward as English and Colby Bishop got themselves into good shooting positions.

But neither of them could test Montgomery as Worcester ended a scrappy opening period 1-0 down.

They could have been further behind at the start of the second period.

Just a minute after the break, Boot pulled off a superb diving save to deny Connor McCarthy.

The striker then turned Hutchison and Tom Sharpe but fired wide.

Moments later, Dan Preston climbed highest only to head straight at Boot.

Telford had all the momentum but suffered a setback on 54 minutes when Royle was sent off for a second yellow card.

From the resultant free-kick, Steele stung the hands of Montgomery before City laid siege on Telford’s goal.

After sustained pressure, the visitors equalised on 66 minutes.

Keane watched on in delight as his deflected cross looped over Montgomery’s head and into the back of the net.

City continued to press as Bishop pulled his shot wide and Steele forced a save from the keeper.

Steele was the hero five minutes from time when he put City ahead for the first time in the tie, smashing the ball into the roof of the net after Andy Gallinagh’s shot was blocked.

Deep into injury-time, Murphy crossed and Hughes made it 3-1 from close range.

City (4-4-2): Boot; Gallinagh, Sharpe, Hutchison, Weir; Steele, English (Batchelor 84), Nelson-Addy, Keane (Murphy 68); Bishop, Hughes. Subs not used: Ross, Olukanmi, Fitzpatrick, Oji, Jackman.

AFC Telford United (3-5-2): Montgomery; Havern, Preston, Hurst; Samuels, Rea, Royle, Williams, Campion; McCarthy, Hibbert. Subs: Evans, Wildigg, Peers, Reynolds, Dawson, Bailey, Cooke.

Attendance: 661.

City man of the match: Chekaine Steele.