Saturday, April 19, 2003

JOHN Snape returned to inspire Worcester City to a 2-1 victory over Bath City and end a 13-year Romans hoodoo.

The St George's Lane club had not managed to beat Bath in 11 league games since 1990.

But goals from Stewart Hadley and Adam Wilde finally enabled Wor-cester to get the better of their Somerset rivals.

It was a performance that spoke volumes for the spirit of a City side whose confidence has taken a buffeting in recent weeks with just one win in seven weeks denting hopes of securing runners-up spot.

Blustery conditions compounded an already difficult surface and John Barton must have feared the worst when Snape, starting his first game since January 4, conceded a penalty after just 13 minutes, tugging down Steve Tweddle.

Danny McDonnell has not earned the tag of best goalkeeper in the Dr Martens Premier Division for nothing, though, and brilliantly dived low to his right to deny Tweddle.

The striker rattled the post from the resulting corner as Bath sought to make their wind advantage count but City held firm.

Two minutes later Bath fell behind when Mark Shail's thumping shot struck the bar and rebounded for Hadley to head in his second league goal of the campaign.

Drew Shore sought revenge on Snape with an appalling tackle that brought a yellow and as the game wore on, tempers began to fray in an increasingly niggly affair with Wilde also booked for retaliation.

Bath re-asserted their role as bogey side with a 31st minute equaliser after Shail and Carl Heeley failed to deal with Stuart James' corner and Iain Harvey rifled in a low shot off the legs of the helpless Darren Middleton standing on the post.

Heeley had to briefly go off for stitches in a head wound sustained in the incident but returned to give a typically committed performance.

But it was Snape who held the key for City's improved display, knitting play together and barking out instructions to a side pared down to the bare bones following Adam Webster's late withdrawal due to a virus.

Snape, always keen to keep it short rather than hoof it forward, began the move that led to the winning goal, finding Paul Carty on the left.

Advancing towards the box Carty slipped a delightful ball inside fullback Chris Honor for Wilde to sprint onto and calmly slide the ball through the legs of the despairing Mark Bryant for his first goal in 18 games.

Worcester, kicking down-wind, largely held control but McDonnell was twice needed to make vital saves late on, first from Jim Rollo and more impressively from a skidding Shore free kick which he gathered at the second attempt.

The final whistle brought a standing ovation for the home side but more importantly renewed confidence they can indeed finish the season on a high.

Worcester: McDonnell 8, Holloway 7, Carty 7, Heeley 8, Shail 7, H Snape 8, Counsell 7, Middleton 6, Owen 7, Hadley 7, Wilde 7 (Tomkins 72). Subs not used: Parker, Smith, Hayes.

Attendance: 753.