A ten man Worcester City snatched a dramatic late win as substitute Daniel Nti prodded home the winner with just two minutes of normal time remaining.

After Shabir Khan had headed City into the lead after just two minutes, the defender received a red card and conceded a penalty which was converted with less than ten minutes remaining, it seemed like luck would evade City yet again.

But Nti’s late goal gave City their first away win of the season lifting City from the foot of the table and gaining ground on the sides above them.

Sunday’s hat-trick hero Ethan Moore was brought into the starting line up at the expense of Daniel Nti, who dropped to the bench, and Shabir Khan returned to the starting line-up for City who were facing a Stalybridge Celtic side who boasted a certain Paul Scholes on their coaching staff in October.

City, who have struggled in front of goal in the league this season, took the lead after just two minutes as Ellis Deeney’s in-swinging corner was hammered into the bottom corner by the head of the unmarked Shabir Khan.

Stalybridge settled and with their first meaningful effort at goal, Phil Marsh’s firm strike from distance bobbled in front of Boot, who recovered the spill.

City, who dominated much of the first half, nearly doubled their lead with nine minutes gone. Stephen Leslie’s clever through ball found Aaron Williams in the area, who flashed his shot wide of the far post.

Despite limiting Celtic to speculative shots from outside the area, the home side came closes from a central free kick, as skipper Kristian Platt fired low and clipped the bottom of the post via a deflection from the wall.

City looked dangerous on the counter attack and nearly caught Celtic napping as the pacey Ethan Moore escaped down the right hand side. But his weak attempt to square the ball to Danny Glover was intercepted by Platt.

And the away side continued to threaten as Danny Glover cut in from the right hand side before rifling a left footed strike wide of Matty Urwin’s goal with twenty minutes on the clock.

And, just moments later, Ethan Moore missed a guilt edged chance. Danny Glover’s neatly clipped ball into the area and the frontman’s attempt to slide the ball under the advancing goalkeeper was blocked by the stopper, before Moore reconnected with the fortuitous rebound, but miscued his effort and struck wide with the goal gaping.

City looked like the more threatening side and in a frantic final five minutes of the half, Moore shrugged off his marker on the half way line, travelling into the Celtic half before squaring the ball to Glover who again fired wide of the far post.

City were nearly punished for their missed chances and had the good positioning of Tyler Weir to thank as he cleared off the line, before Conal Platt cut in from the right hand side and unleashed a left footed pile driver from distance that struck the post. City entered the break with a deserved lead.

But after the restart a much improved Celtic began to find their rhythm. In the first ten minutes of the half, Paul Ennis’s cross found the unmarked Platt, who headed over the bar from close range, before Platt again had an effort from inside the area saved by Boot, with the rebound nearly being inadvertently put into the City net by Graeme Hutchinson. City were on the back foot.

On the hour mark, with their first real attacking spell of the half, Khan headed over from Deeney’s corner, with Urwin scrambling to deny the looping header.

The home side continued to press and City had some last ditch defending to thank to keep their clean sheet temporarily intact. First, Pepper slid the ball through to substitute Obi Anoruo, who struck his effort straight at the advancing Boot, before Anourou’s low cross was thwarted by a well-timed tackle by George Williams to deny Phil Marsh a tap-in.

The lively Anoruo then fired inches wide from an Andy McWilliams cross, and with City clinging on to their lead, Daniel Nti was thrown on to try and seal the win with fifteen minutes left.

But with less than ten minutes remaining, City were dealt a massive blow as Shabir Khan conceded a penalty and received his marching orders for a second bookable offence after challenging Anoruo in the area. Captain Platt calmly converted, sending the keeper the wrong way.

But, just as is seemed that luck would evade City again, the away side snatched a late winner with just two minutes left of normal time. Taundry’s corner from the left was punched unconvincingly onto the back of a defender by Urwin, dropping fortuitously to Nti who tapped in from a yard out to steal City their first away win.

Manager, Carl Heeley, was delighted with his team’s performance and hoped the side could use the win as a catalyst.

“We played really, really well, particularly in the first half. The only concern I had was that they’re (Stalybridge) a good footballing side, it was going to come back and bite us missing the opportunities. We’ve got some character and we dug in, and we got an opportunity and stuck it away. One’s dropped for us. We’ll take the fortune when it comes”, said Heeley.

“It’s a big lift for us but it’s a small step. We’ve got a lot of work to do”, admitted the City boss.

City host Guiseley on Tuesday night (7.45 kick off) in the hoping to make it three wins in a row in all competitions.

Attendance 378

Report by Alex Harris

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