WORCESTER CITY 1
Hartley 77
GREAT WAKERING R 0
ELLIOT Hartley came off the bench to put Worcester City in the Ed driving seat in their Isuzu FA Vase semi-final with Great Wakering Rovers at Sixways Stadium.
The City substitute smashed home a fine winner to give his side the advantage ahead of Saturday’s second leg and extend their winning run to 23 matches.
But while City boss Chris Cornes said there is more to come from his players, he insists he won’t be taking anything for granted.
“We are not going to get carried away,” he said. “The players are disappointed because the performance wasn’t what it was in other big games this season.
“The environment we have created in the group means it takes care of itself, they will not get carried away. If you walked in our dressing room now, you would think we had drawn or lost.”
True to form, City started on the front foot and nearly got their noses in front on five minutes when Jordan Lymn fired narrowly over the bar from 25 yards.
Izah Reid also went close in the early exchanges, turning the ball into the side netting as he stretched to get on the end of a ball from Kyle Belmonte.
And the hosts should have taken the lead midway through the half when Lymn was slipped in behind and rounded keeper Luis Shamshaw but he could not get enough on his shot, allowing Oliver Jenkins to recover and clear the ball away.
But it was the visitors who had the best chance of the half, Hafeez Elegushi stealing the ball and bursting through. But his touch around Hayden Whitcombe took him too wide meaning he could not get a shot away b
