Worcester City 4-1 Hyde FC
Vanarama Conference North
Jonny Bonell reports from Aggborough
Attendance: 489
IT WAS a first win in six attempts for Worcester City as a Daniel Nti brace helped his side secure a commanding 4-1 victory over already-relegated Hyde FC today (Saturday).
A second-half stunner from academy youngster Joao Sousa put City back on course for the three points before Nti bagged two goals in two minutes to kill off the game.
Mike Symons’ first half header had Worcester in front at the break but a Pete Boyle finish right at the start of the second period brought proceedings level, before Sousa’s strike restored the Blue and Whites’ lead.
The visitors did crash an effort off the bar through Luke Giverin’s free-kick but Worcester got the result they deserved and stay in ninth on 57 points.
Heeley made four changes to the side which draw 1-1 with Brackley in midweek with Shab Khan, Anthony Charles, Michael Taylor and Sean Geddes all coming in but it was Hyde who had the first opportunity of the game when Perry Ng’s scuffed drive was held by Nathan Vaughan.
Taylor, who was making his first start since the reverse fixture back in December, then flicked a header just wide before getting himself booked for a succession of fouls in an eventful opening 20 minutes for the forward.
Despite going on to be replaced by Jay Denny after 33 minutes, it was Taylor who played a major part in the opening goal of the game ten minutes before his withdrawal.
The forward’s powerful run down the right was eventually halted by Ng, at the expense of a corner, and Geddes drifted in the perfect delivery for Symons to climb highest and head home his tenth of the season.
Giverin did flash an effort past Vaughan’s post moments later and James Burke fired one marginally wide as the Tigers looked to pick up their first three points away from home this campaign.
The visitors could have felt hard done by going in behind at the break, but within two minutes of the restart they caught Worcester cold and drew level. Connor Hughes did all the hard work down the left, burst into the box and pulled the ball back for Boyle who applied the necessary finish.
If the first half had an end-of-season feel to it, academy prodigy Sousa showed exactly what quality was missing when he put the hosts back ahead just before the hour mark.
Sousa, making his third consecutive start for the club, still had a lot to do when he received the ball from Geddes on the corner of the box but the youngster showed great composure to switch it onto his left foot and smash his first goal for Worcester into the far corner.
Despite having seemingly nothing to play for, bottom-placed Hyde were not giving up without a fight and were adamant Anthony Charles should have seen red when he cynically halted Jake Hibbs’ run on goal. Giverin’s superb resulting free-kick then crashed against the underside of the bar with Boyle unable to scramble home the rebound.
Any hope of a rare Hyde comeback was dashed with 16 minutes to go as two goals in two minutes from Nti put the game to bed.
He firstly rose to flick a header home from another Geddes corner before a neat move involving Denny and Symons saw Nti tuck home his 13th of the campaign and secure the three points.