BOSS Chris Cornes was full of praise for the "endearing" Elliot Hartley after his goal won Worcester City the three points at home to AFC Wufrunians on Saturday.

Hartley bagged his second winning goal in a week with another brilliant strike as City claimed a vital win in their bid to stay in the Midland Football League Premier. 

"He’s been brilliant for us, he works so hard and endears himself to the fans, and that’s why they love him so much,” eulogised Cornes.

"We had a chat at half-time, when it was 0-0. I said to him and Reiss (Taylor Randle) that they had to shoot more, I said to them what’s the worst that could happen if you did shoot.

"So I gave them a bit of a rollicking but you saw with the goals today, what happens when they do that (shoot more)."

It was Taylor-Randle who Put City 1-0 up with a deflected strike from range but Wulfs pulled level just a couple of minutes later before Hartley won it with 75 minutes on the clock. 

But Cornes was also keen to provide stand-in centre-back Connor Jakeways with some deserved credit, as well as the wider squad on what was one of City's better days.

"I thought CJ (Connor Jakeways) was magnificent today. He stepped out of that left center-half pocket so much, he got us playing on the front foot I thought he was superb," added Cornes. 

"When we came in, we said how good the squad was. Obviously, people move on but I think it’s a testament of our belief in the players and their belief in us as a coaching team that these players can step up when called upon.

"The mentality of the lads was there to see, to respond so well to the equaliser was a testament of that."

Cornes will be hoping for more performances like today when his City side travel to Racing Club Warwick, next Saturday, as they look to widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three.