A fantastic first quarter laid the foundations for an excellent win as City found their scoring touch with six goals at Cheltenham Town.

City passed and pressed well from the outset and were quickly rewarded with an early goal as the home side failed to deal with a corner and Oli Sheahan prodded home.

Another cross from the right saw the Town keeper tip a Harry Rebbeck header onto the bar with Archie Thurston coming close to forcing the loose ball in.

However it wasn't long before the visitors extended their lead when Cian Sheehan showed tremendous endeavour to chase a ball to the byline from where his cross escaped the defence for Billy Owen to despatch into the bottom corner.

City's delivery into the box was dangerous throughout the match and they were especially threatening on both flanks in Q1 with Sam Cotton - an early substitute for Jamie Neath - and George Duggan linking up well on the left and Rebbeck and Matt Athey creating problems on the right from where the third goal eventually came. The tireless Athey won the ball with a superbly-timed sliding tackle and fed his skipper Sheehan, whose cross eluded the keeper and dropped off the bar into the six yard box from where Thurston wasn't going to miss his second opportunity.

The hosts threatened for the first time at the start of Q2 but their break was thwarted by an excellent block by Sheahan.

Moments later, his central defensive partner Alex Fenn intercepted the ball and passed to Guy Collett, who dinked a superb pass to Neath. Marking his return to the fray, the striker swivelled and unleashed a superb half-volley into the net.

City then conceded a poor goal after failing to deal with a free-kick from midfield but rapidly restored their four-goal lead when captain Sheehan was rewarded when his deep cross sailed in at the far post - fortuitous but fully-deserved for a hard-working display from first whistle to last.

But in a topsy-turvy quarter, Town struck back immediately from the penalty spot after keeper Josh Reed-Jones was adjudged to have fouled from what looked like nothing more than an accidental collision.

Q3 was very scrappy from both sides with no serious chances created but, after holding firm, City regained their composure and command of the contest in the final quarter. A sixth goal duly arrived when Owen delivered a superb free-kick into the danger zone where it was flicked in by Rebbeck, who looked to have won a penalty for his side shortly afterwards when he looked to have been tripped in the area only for the referee to turn down the appeals.

Full-back Athey continued to probe and dictate proceedings on the right from where the final opportunity came. His pass into Sheahan was cleverly back-heeled into the path of Rebbeck whose cross flashed across the goal mouth but eluded his team-mates as City saw out the final minutes to clinch three points from an emphatic 6-2 victory.

Worcester City FC

Match Preview

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Team Sponsors