Worcester City cruised to a straightforward win against West Midlands rivals at The Grove as City thumped promotion contenders Halesowen Town 3-0 in a Bank Holiday masterclass.

The hosts controlled the game for the most part early in the contest, with the Yeltz having the first half-chance of the game in the opening minute. City, however, put any doubt to shame when Liam Lockett’s floated ball in was struck by Felix Miles past Town keeper Daniel Platt to put Worcester 1-0 up.

Halesowen came close to an equaliser a few minutes later when a ball in by Kyle Finn was headed into the side netting by Town defender Alex Gudger.

Just shy of the 25-minute mark, despite efforts from the hosts to equalise, Liam Lockett’s pass was again met by Felix Miles at close range to put City 2-0 up and to send the packed away end into a frenzy.

The chances came thick and fast for City, as Lockett’s threaded a pass to Teddy Rowe. The ball flew behind for a corner after a tangle of legs between Rowe and Town defender Ben Cassidy. Then, Lockett was played in and had a chance of his own when he looked to place the ball in the corner, but was stopped after a great save from Platt in between the sticks for Town to force another City corner.

City were denied a third goal after a fabulous double save by Daniel Platt late in the first half as Felix Miles’ played a great pass into Teddy Rowe, whose shot was saved twice by Platt to keep the hosts in the contest.

Halesowen came close to getting a goal back when Macauley Manning’s drive up the pitch ended with a shot outside the area, with his chance narrowly missing the bottom left corner.

Minutes after the restart, a ball in by Dan Sweeney fell to Teddy Rowe, whose effort was dramatically cleared off the line by substitute Ryan Wollacott.

Another chance came for City as an unmarked Felix Miles fired the ball inches wide of a third and a hat-trick for himself.

Halesowen had their best chance of the game when loanee keeper Jack Thompson superbly held Kyle Finn’s close-range effort.

As the second half progressed, the hosts were desperately looking to break City’s impenetrable back line as chances became few and far between for Halesowen.

2 minutes from time, a loose ball from Ben Cassidy was intercepted by super sub Dan Sweeney, who calmly fired in to the top corner, seeing City secure their first win, and importantly, their first 3 points of the season.

Worcester City will take a break from league action as they face Northern Premier League Central Division side Chasetown FC in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round at Sixways on Saturday 30th August.

Match report by Harry Wilcox.