Worcester City 3-5 Colwyn Bay
Vanarama Conference North
Jonny Bonell reports from Aggborough
Attendance: 610
AN EMPHATIC 5-3 victory wasn’t enough for Colwyn Bay to avoid the Conference North drop as they suffered the heart-break of relegation despite a resounding win against Worcester City today (Saturday).
Bay needed to win and hope either Staybridge Celtic or Brackley Town fell to defeat, but a draw for Celtic and a late winner for Brackley meant the power was out of the visitor’s hands and they were relegated from the sixth tier of English football.
On the pitch, an enthralling game kick-started into action after just seven minutes when Anthony Charles saw red for a professional foul.
Tristian Dunkley went on to put the hosts ahead but Mike Lea hit back instantly to see the sides go in level at half time.
Then three goals in ten second half minutes – a Jacob Rowe own goal and two from Tom Buckley – gave Colwyn Bay the platform they needed to survive, even with Daniel Nti’s penalty reducing the deficit to just two goals.
Obi Anoruo then restored the three-goal cushion to make it 5-2 before Nti hit back once more, but it was Ryan Rowe’s late strike for Brackley that did the damage and sent the North Welsh side down.
The visitors needed to start the game on the front foot and after Nti’s drilled effort had given them an early scare, Bay got exactly the lift they needed.
There were just seven minutes on the clock when Anoruo burst through on goal and Charles illegally halted the forward’s run and brought him down. Referee Andy Hendley had no hesitation in brandishing a straight red card for the defender.
Mr Hendley was less popular with the pocket-full of Colwyn Bay supporters who had made the long trip just three minutes later when Anoruo had strong claims for a penalty waved away when he went down under a challenge from Jacob Rowe.
And then an even bigger blow came in the visitors survival bid after 23 minutes when they allowed Dunkley to travel unopposed from the half-way line and drill an effort from the edge of the box which beat Chris Sanna at his near post.
But just five minutes later the dream of beating the drop was back on for Gus Williams’ men when James Ellison’s free-kick wasn’t dealt with by Jose Veiga and Jonathan Royle was waiting at the back post to square the ball to Lea who had the simplest of tasks to tap home.
And when Anoruo raced through with just five minutes of the first half to go their hopes were raised once more, but the forward’s attempted lob had just too much on it and landed on the roof of Veiga’s net.
Whatever Williams said to his side at the interval clearly had the desired effect as a quite unbelievable start to the second half saw the visitors notch three goals in just ten minutes.
Just two minutes after the restart Wes Baynes’ long ball was allowed to bounce in the Worcester box and Rowe could only watch in agony as his attempted header back was too high for Veiga and looped into the net.
Buckley then fired a spectacular third when his touch and volley beat Veiga before his corner bamboozled the Portuguese stopper and flew into the far corner.
The game had anything but an end-of-season feel to it as Nti headed a Geddes free-kick against the woodwork before the pacey forward pulled one back for Worcester from the spot following Baynes’ challenge on substitute Jamie Smith after 66 minutes.
A minute later and it could have been five for the North Wales outfit when Anoruo burst through a static Worcester rearguard and fired his effort against the post. But five minutes after that Anoruo ran through once more and this time made no mistake to make it five.
Nti’s brilliant turn and finish from the edge of the box with five minutes to go did add a third for Worcester but it was a late strike from Brackley Town’s Rowe which did all the damage as it gave Brackley the win they needed against Hednesford Town to survive, and consign Bay to the drop.