WORCESTER CITY 1 Dorchester 0
SUPER sub Stewart Hadley popped up with a last-gasp winner to send Dorchester Town home empty-handed and keep Worcester City on top of the league.
The former Kidderminster Harriers
striker leapt to head in from six yards in the 88th minute after Magpies keeper Mark Ormerod had flapped at an Adam Wilde corner.
It was a cruel note to finish on for the visitors who had withstood an early onslaught from City to haul themselves back into the game which they could conceivably have gone on to win.
Worcester dominated the opening 20 minutes with the powerful Leon Kelly twisting and turning the Magpies defence as he latched on to a series of long balls.
His willingness to run at them unsettled the Dorchester defence and centre half Alex Browne earned a booking in the 11th minute for a scything challenge on the striker as he burst clear.
From the free-kick Wilde fired in a 25-yard shot that bounced awkwardly in front of Ormerod forcing him to concede a corner as City piled on the pressure.
Adam Webster spurned a glorious chance to put the home side head, heading over unmarked from six yards a minute later.
The Magpies were then nearly undone by City full back Allan Davies with a clever short corner routine in the 16th minute that enabled him to fire in successive shots unmarked from the edge of the area, the last flashing just wide of the post.
Webster glanced a Darren Middleton cross just wide a minute later but Wilde then went closest with a marvellous piece of opportunism that Ormerod just managed to tip over.
Having weathered that initial storm however Dorchester slowly clawed their way into the match and a Justin Keeler header in the 34th minute served as warning to City.
They failed to heed it and on the stroke of half time Keeler breached the home defence but his rising shot struck the bar and rebounded to safety.
Matt Tubbs, whose simmering feud with Jon Holloway netted them both yellow cards in the 40th minute, then headed narrowly over as the visitors ended the half on top.
The second half deteriorated into an unedifying spectacle with little goalmouth action though Tubbs and Matt Hann almost wriggled through in the 75th minute but Davies reacted quickly to thwart Tubbs.
Four minutes from time Hann put in a superb cross to the unmarked Tubbs but the striker headed over from six yards.
It proved a costly miss two minutes later when Dorchester's failed to clear Wilde's corner and Hadley was on hand to steal victory.
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