Report: Bashley 1-3 Worcester City - Pre-season friendly

DOUBLE: Danny Glover

WORCESTER CITY came back from behind to win their pre-season friendly at Southern League Bashley with a powerful display despite playing over an hour with an outfield player in goal.

Danny Glover’s brace quickly turned the game around after James Stokoe’s strike before City’s Matt Sargeant was withdrawn with a groin strain and replaced by Rob Elvins between the sticks. Dan Polan made the result safe in the second half.

The lively Glover was in the thick of the action straight away, bursting through and cutting inside to rattle the post after only 17 seconds, and the game started with a high tempo as both teams attacked with purpose.

Charlie Knight impressed for Bash, shooting across goal and setting up Stokoe with his first chance but Sargeant saved well one-on-one.  The opener wasn’t far away though and Knight was involved again, crossing from the left for Stokoe to power a header home on 17 minutes.

The goal sparked City into life though and within four minutes Carl Heeley’s men were ahead.

The first came when Shabir Khan’s throw was laid off by Mike Symons for Glover to blast home from close range.

Two minutes after the leveller, the same players were involved again with Khan’s throw setting Symons away down the left to outmuscle Brad Strickland and cross for Glover to convert at the far post.

Sargeant’s withdrawal came minutes after as City’s young ‘keeper finally succumbed to a groin strain picked up from his first kicked clearance of the game, but Bashley didn’t really test stand-in Elvins other than Carlos Lompato’s header which was cleared off the line by Khan.

Worcester stayed in control as Symons should have done better with a close range header and winger Greg Mills rattled the crossbar on the stroke of half time.

Mills had a seemingly good shout for a penalty waved away shortly after the break as Tom Hill tangled with the former Telford flyer, but the second half saw less action with the introduction of substitutes from both sides.

One of the fresh faces, Dan Polan, scored the goal that settled the game for City seven minutes after his entrance – Polan’s direct run set Symons away to draw a smart low stop from Prodomo, but Polan was on hand to net the rebound.

Bashley’s Knight and City’s Charlie Reece traded chances late on, but the biggest cheer of the afternoon was saved for Worcester’s manager Carl Heeley who made a two minute cameo at the end, coming on for Stuart Whitehead.

TEAM NEWS

BASHLEY: Prodomo, Penny (Gazzard 53), Oliver, Strickland, Middleton, Finlay (Archbold 73), Knight, Hill (Hampton-Brown 65), Stokoe (Ferguson 72), Casey (Brookes 73), Lompato (Speechley-Price 56).

Goal: Stokoe 17.

WORCESTER CITY: Sargeant (Elvins 26), Weir,Khan (Edwards 46), Thorley (Denny 46), Whitehead (Heeley 88), Rowe (Ayres 46), Reece, Breeze, Symons, Glover (Polan 65), Mills.

Goals: Glover 19, 21, Polan 72.

REFEREE: Mr Will Bull (Winchester).