Worcester City and St Ives Town played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Sixways Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the penultimate game of the Southern League Premier Central season.

The opening ten minutes were mainly controlled by City, who looked to end the remaining two games on a high, with Worcester comfortably keeping the ball in the opposition half.

City’s first attacking threat came just prior to the fifteen-minute mark when a long-range ball into recently recalled Zac Guinan looked to find Charlie Lutz, but it was blocked by the defender. However, Guinan was deemed offside and a free kick was awarded.

Worcester’s first real effort on goal came from Brandon Smalley when the wide man met a low driven cross, but his powerful effort flew just over the bar as City pressed to break the deadlock.

The one-way traffic continued in the half when Zac Guinan latched onto a ball over the top, but his effort was pushed out by the visiting keeper for a corner.

City had what could be described as their closest chance of the half when a throw-in was met by Harry Burns, who rifled a shot towards the far corner, only for Oliver Taylor in the St Ives net to get a glove on it and force a corner.

City did break the deadlock from the resulting corner when Brandon Smalley delivered a whipped ball into the area, only for a defender to glance it into his own net, giving Worcester a more than deserved lead as City went into the break 1-0 up.

As the second half commenced, City continued at the same pace they started the game. Worcester’s first chance of the half came when Zac Guinan slipped in Charlie Lutz, who fired a shot towards the bottom corner, but the visiting keeper did well to block it to his right.

The visitors looked to threaten a leveller when they found space down the right-hand side, but full back Josh Bailey was there to clear the ball for a corner.

St Ives did find a leveller against the run of play when a foul by Matthew Richards on the edge of the area saw the officials award the visitors a penalty. Captain Michael Richens stepped up and sent City keeper Sam Kane the wrong way to draw St Ives level.

City had a chance of their own to retake the lead when captain Charlie Wise latched onto a free kick, but could not get his effort on target.

St Ives then took the lead when Michael Richens scored his second of the afternoon, tapping in a cross from the right-hand side which caught out the City defence to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Zac Guinan levelled the contest less than ten minutes later for City when the striker got on the end of a cross into the area, guiding the ball into the far corner. The goal led to a brief coming together between City’s Luke Rowe and St Ives’ Michael Richens, with both players booked.

With the clock ticking into added time, both teams looked to find a late winner, but the referee brought the game to a close with the sides sharing the points in a 2-2 draw.

City will next be in action on Tuesday when they face Redditch United in the Worcestershire FA Senior Invitation Cup Final at Evesham United’s Spiers & Hartwell Stadium.

Match report by Harry Willcox.