LOVELY, LIAM! NEW STAR STOPS THE ROT

WORTHING tore up the form book with a fine home victory over high-flying Yeading when they came from behind to secure maximum points thanks to a superb Liam Collins' strike on Tuesday. It was Ding's first away defeat and they are second in the table.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Oct 2004, 13:12 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 01:00 BST

Three successive reversals on the road had made this a must-win fixture for the Rebels, and it took a pugnacious second-half display, in what was a fractious encounter, to put Alan Pook's men back on track.

The visitors showed little evidence of the form that had lifted them to the summit of the table, and it was Worthing that played the better football in a first half short on goalscoring opportunities.

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The tidy Matt Russell, in a lone striker role, went closest, heading just wide after nine minutes.

The lack of goal threat from Yeading made Worthing's concession of a set-piece goal all the more disappointing in the 33rd minute when DJ Campbell found himself unmarked in the six-yard box from a corner and swept the ball home.

Half-time came at the right moment for the Rebels, who injected extra pace and purpose into their second-half perfomance from the outset.

Russell found better support than in the first period and was rewarded just before the hour.

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Neat interplay from Mark Pulling and Collins resulted in an open goal for the striker, although he shinned his first effort straight up in the air and was relieved to volley it home at the second attempt.

With the crowd enlivened and the tempo lifted, Worthing pushed for a second, but it took a good close range save from Mark Ormerod after 67 minutes to maintain parity.

Four minutes later the lively Collins provided the clincher after an imperious crossfield ball from Stewart Holmes.

The winger cut inside two defenders before despatching a crisp left-footed finish inside the near post.

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The game simmered into the final stages as Yeading's increasingly ill-tempered efforts to find an equaliser bore little fruit until, with nine minutes left, skipper Darti Brown rattled Ormerod's crossbar with the last meaningful chance of the game.

WORTHING: Ormerod; Lutwyche, Pullan, Lamont, Knee; Pulling, Holmes, Rogers, Geard; Collins, Russell. Subs: Grice (Geard 73), R.Pook (Russell 90), Smith, Head, Dicker. Att: 281.

YEADING: Preddie; Barima, Behzadi, Leach, Stanley, Protain; Newby, Haule, Darti Brown; Campbell, Telemaque. Subs: Clarke (Barima 77), Derek Brown (Protain 83), McArthur (Darti Brown 86), Quanuna, Woodruffe.

See The Herald for a report of Saturday's game at Hampton and Richmond.