MANAGER John Snape argued Worcester City’s penalty shootout triumph in the Worcestershire Senior Urn had been warranted due to sheer graft.

City survived the scare of trailing twice to Midland Football League Division One outfit Studley in Thursday’s final at the Jubilee Stadium, Evesham, with a Dave Reynolds double rescuing a 2-2 draw.

Worcester went on to win 6-5 from the spot after Jordan Jones fired wide in the last-chance saloon of sudden-death spot-kicks.

Snape admitted his troops had not started well and needed a reshuffle having gone behind within the opening 60 seconds of the second half but was quick to recognise the never-say-die spirit that nudged City past the winning post against dogged opponents.

“We got the result in the end after a very positive start from Studley,” said Snape.

“I thought we were all at sea for the first 15 minutes and they got themselves in front, they probably deserved to even if I felt the foul for the free-kick that laid it on should have been given the other way.

“We didn’t defend it well and they had a tap-in which was disappointing.

“There were some big gaps in the middle of the park but we did not get the ball out to James Baldwin enough.

“Liam Lockett got on it and caused no end of trouble, his movement and vision was great. Reyno (Dave Reynolds) backed him up and slotted away like we know he usually does to send us in level at half-time.

“We went through a few things at the break but I felt like throwing it out of the window when their kid hit one into the top corner from the edge of the box so soon after the restart, which came from us backing off.

“From there we looked at how we could change things and I felt those changes were justified. We had to go for it.

“K(aoui Attoumani) and Tyler Weir got on the ball a bit more and 10 minutes before we got the goal we really started to dominate, limiting them to one chance just after we had scored the second through Reyno again, another good poacher’s goal on the turn.

“The difference from Saturday was that the substitutes all had a massive impact on the game. Jordan Stoddart and Sam Gilder had a bit of a wobble just after we got the second and Tyler missed a great chance at the end, I would have backed him to slot that away every time.

“But overall in the second half we probably had 70 per cent of the play and more importantly, had that bit between our teeth.”

The shootout kicked off in spectacular style with Studley’s Sean Brain grounding Gilder with a cheeky chip from 12 yards, catching the eye of Snape.

“I felt sorry for the lad that missed but Brainy’s penalty was unbelievable,” added Snape.

“I don’t normally pick out opposition players but if I was Gilder I would have thought about walking off because that was Premier League-class.

"Then again, all of ours were fantastic and Reyno deserves a mention for his as well. I think the miss in the FA Cup played on his mind but to be fair to Ash (Vincent, assistant manager) he said ‘he needs to take one, he’s on fire’.

“I am over the moon for the boys and whatever you think about this cup, it is a bit of silverware for us to finish the season with. Now we have to look to finish as strongly as we can in the last four league games."