Williams header seals win for City - The Worcester Observer

Williams header seals win for City

Worcester Editorial 3rd Mar, 2014 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

A BACK-post header from substitute Aaron Williams sealed a vital three points for Worcester City as they beat Stalybridge Celtic 2-1 at Aggborough on Saturday (March 1).

Williams nodded home a Steven Leslie delivery with ten minutes remaining after a sublime Paul Ennis free-kick had earlier cancelled out Daniel Nti’s opener.

The final whistle was greeted with huge cheers from a vocal City support who see their team rise up to 15th in the Skrill Conference North and 13 points clear of the drop zone.

Former Worcester defender Matt Regan gifted the hosts the first real opportunity after seven minutes when Ethan Moore dispossessed him on the edge of the box and teed up Aaron Brown, but the midfielder’s strike was straight at Danny East.




The Blue and Whites deservedly opened the scoring after 17 minutes as Brown lobbed a long ball over the Stalybridge defence for Nti to run onto, he brought it down brilliantly on his chest and flicked the ball past East.

Ennis had a great chance to equalise for the visitors ten minutes later when Leslie brought down Tom Buckley on the edge of the box, but the resulting free-kick was comfortably tipped over the bar by Ryan Boot who re-joined City shortly before the game after number one Jose Veiga sustained a training ground injury.


A carbon copy of that incident happened with five minutes of the first half remaining as Leslie this time brought down Ryan Croasdale on the edge of the box.

Unlike the previous attempt, Ennis curled a delightful effort in off the far post to pull The Celts level.

Carl Heeley’s men came out rejuvenated in the second period and Regan again put his side in danger when his poor ball fell to Leslie who drove at the visiting back line, but his chipped effort sailed well wide.

The Worcester pressure continued after the restart. Brown horribly miscued his effort after being picked out by Ebby Nelson-Addy before Moore turned his man in the box but fired just wide of East’s post.

With ten minutes to go the hosts scored what could prove to be a precious goal as Leslie’s initial corner was cleared back to him, he skipped past his man and whipped a perfect in-swinging cross to the back post for substitute Williams to head home and send the Aggborough faithful into raptures.

Worcester’s tails were up and they bombarded the Celtic box in the closing stages. They could not find a third goal but the final whistle was greeted with as loud a cheer as Aggborough has seen this season.

A delighted Heeley said: “It was a jittery game, two sides with a lot to play for. It was a massive game today and we’ve won and it’s a huge huge win for us.

“I felt if we improved the final ball in the box in the second half we’d go and win the game and with Steven Leslie he’s knocked a great ball in there for Aaron Williams for the winning goal.

“As much as it’s a great win, a huge win for us today, we’re not home and dry yet we’ve still got some work to do but if we keep showing those characteristics and playing the surfaces as they need to be played then we’ll be fine.”

Jonny Bonell reporting from Aggborough

Attendance 531

Picture by Rob Bazley

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