WORCESTER Raiders rin in the FA Vase came to an abrupt end at the weekend as they were beaten by Atherstone Town 2-1 at Sixways.

Isaac Cooper, playing out of position at right-back on the day, scored a wonderful free-kick towards the end of the first-half to bring Raiders level after the Adders took the lead in the 14th minute through Brady Middleton.

355 were in attendance at Sixways to watch Raiders play their first Vase game at their new ground and only their second ever appearance in the competition in their short history.

Raiders had their chances to score but were not clinical enough and Middleton's second of the afternoon eight minutes after the break proved the winner and sealed their progression into the first round proper.

As well as usual striker Cooper playing in defence, midfielder Kyle Belmonte was also forced to do a job at centre-half.

Manager Chris Cornes insists there were positives to take but lamented the lack of commitment from certain players, which meant he had to shuffle his pack.

"It was a bit of a makeshift back four, with Isaac Coper playing right-back and Kyle Belmonte playing at centre-half," he said.

"But I felt like, for large parts of the game, we were the better side.

"They had two shots on goal and they took them and we have had more chances and not scored

"We didn't had that cutting edge and they did and that was the difference.

"But there's a lot of positives in that. We played well today but the negatives are a bit of a lack of commitment from certain players but we will address that.

"We need to push on in the league now."