Defeat snatched from jaws of victory

Worcester City were disappointed to come away with nothing from a match that they should never have lost after letting slip a 4-1 lead against Herefordshire RTC.

After a fairly even opening, both sides scored from goalkeeping errors - Harry Stone putting the hosts in the lead when his speculative effort bounced meekly over the Herefordshire stopper for the only goal in the first quarter.

The visitors equalised in Q2 after City lost the ball deep in opposition territory and then missed several opportunities to regain possession as Herefordshire switched the ball to the opposite flank where their powerfully-built forward advanced with pace and shot straight through the keeper's hands.

It wasn't long though until Worcester regained the lead as Harry Rebbeck worked himself into some space and crashed a shot into the net off the underside of the bar. He then put his side 3-1 in front as he shook off a defender to fire into the corner after some excellent work from Jamie Hill on the left.

The same two combined again in Q3 as Rebbeck was slid in for his hat-trick. Crucially though Herefordshire got a goal back before the final interval as their striker latched onto a lofted ball to lob in.

As expected, Herefordshire came out all guns blazing in the final period and, as City tired, they capitalised with two strikes from inside the box to level. Their gold award player then sprinted clear to notch the winner.

With the last kick of the game, City's gold award winner Rebbeck had a great opportunity to end the contest all-square but he shot narrowly wide.

Despite the disappointment of surrendering a healthy lead, there were still plenty of positives for City to take forward into their upcoming fixtures.