Worcester City 3 Altrincham 0.

WORCESTER City gave another reason to believe they will steer clear of the drop zone this season with a comfortable victory over 10-man Altrincham.

It may only be the end of October, but the way City have dispatched Bradford Park Avenue, Stalybridge Celtic and now Alty – scoring 10 and conceding none - shows they are a class above the bottom three in Vanarama National League North.

Goals from Lee Hughes, Cieron Keane and Ebby Nelson-Addy saw Carl Heeley’s side move 10 points clear of the struggling trio and two places higher to 12th in the table.

Altrincham will probably feel they would have pushed Worcester closer had skipper Alan Goodall not been sent off on 10 minutes.

But the hosts were already 1-0 up at this stage thanks to Hughes’ early header and, considering their dominance and the amount of opportunities they created over the next 80 minutes, the win could have been even more emphatic.

Having lost 10 of their 15 league games, including a demoralising 3-2 defeat to lowly Avenue in midweek, Alty arrived at the Victoria Ground low on confidence.

And City, who had already thumped Avenue 3-0 and Stalybridge 4-0 this term, showed no mercy again as they went ahead on eight minutes.

After picking up a loose ball, Keane linked up with Colby Bishop before floating over an inch-perfect cross to the back post for Hughes to nod home.

Although hit and miss with his deliveries at times, Keane has become a key figure for City on the left flank and he provided another great chance for Hughes moments later.

The veteran striker had only goalkeeper Tim Deasy to beat before Goodall brought him down on the edge of the area, resulting in a straight red card.

On the half hour mark, Keane then got on the scoresheet with a thumping 25-yard drive which flew into the bottom corner.

He was also working wonderfully with left-back Tyler Weir who came close to celebrating the birth of his first child with a goal in the first half.

Firstly, Deasy did well to stop Weir’s cross going into the top corner before firing narrowly wide after a one-two with Hughes.

Last weekend, City suffered a 5-1 defeat at high-flying Darlington 1883, but their defensive frailties that day did not resurface as they responded superbly.

Centre-back Graham Hutchison was forced off with a head injury on 17 minutes, but the returning Tom Sharpe came off the bench to form a solid partnership with Sam Oji.

The latter, particularly, stood firm as he put his body on the line to stop Sean Miller’s strike after the ball fell to the striker in the box.

Goalkeeper Ryan Boot made several routine saves, but it was more a case of how many City would score.

Experienced defender Wayne Thomas did his best to thwart his former club, but Worcester were knocking the ball around with ease.

And with 15 minutes left, Ebby Nelson-Addy sealed the three points when he volleyed in Chekaine Steele’s header from close range.

City had further chances to extend their lead, but Hughes curled one just wide before Micah Evans had an effort cleared off the line.