Lancaster City 4 Worksop Town 2 THINGS may not be at their best behind the scenes at managerless Lancaster City at the moment but team spirit is ensuring that's not the case on the pitch. The Blues are unbeaten in the three games since Alan Tinsley resigned. They drew 0-0 at Worksop on Saturday and finished things off in style in Tuesday night's replay to qualify for the first round proper of the FA Trophy. Speaking after that win, caretaker-manager Mick Hoyle said: "The commitment we showed tonight was wonderful. We had a great training session last week, set our stall out to get something from the game on Saturday and finished it off tonight. I am very pleased with the way the players have pulled together."

Fans at Tuesday night's replay were stunned to see striker John Coleman run out of the tunnel with the number nine shirt on his back at the start of the game. Coleman left the Blues two weeks ago to take up the manager's job at Ashton United.

With Stuart Diggle still injured, Peter Borrowdale unavailable and Mark Shirley now at Morecambe, Coleman turned out for Lancaster for the very last time before his playing registration is taken up by Ashton. Wouldn't you know it, he scored one of City's four. Worksop were seldom in this replay, played in terrible conditions, and Lancaster made the most of their superiority to go in 3-0 ahead at half-time.

The first came on 18 minutes when Barrie Stimpson's corner was met by Robbie Armstong whose bullet header flew into the net, giving the former Morecambe man his second goal in a week.

Twelve minutes later it was two. After a great team move, the brilliant Steve Trainor put Coleman through on goal and he showed his class by clinically slotting the ball home. The third came in the 38th minute when Armstrong's free-kick was bravely headed on by Coleman and the loose ball fell to Trainor who side-footed home. Worksop offered more in the second half with the wind at their backs but were out-thought at every turn by the battling Blues. They did manage to grab a goal ten minutes from time when Terry Harris set up Linden Whitehead but by that point they were on their way out of the Trophy.

City made sure with their final goal four minutes later, Jay Flannery's clever through ball releasing Stuart Gelling who switched the play allowing the unmarked Trainor to score his second. Worksop kept going and pulled another back with just a minute on the clock, Tim Edge firing over Thornley from the edge of the box. TEAM: Thornley, Macauley (Marshall), Armstrong, McNeilis, Stimpson (Chilton), Tomlinson, Trainor, Lodge, Coleman (Riches), Gelling, Flannery.

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