It was a scrappy affair between Malvern, who are already doomed to bottom spot and relegation, and Rothwell Town who have performed like a Jekyll and Hyde side all season. And this was one of their worst performances.
The Bones really needed a win
to ease their own relegation worries without being dependent on other results.
But you would not have guessed this from some of the Rothwell players who did not perform for their manager or their club.
And Rothwell manager Rob Dunion was quite rightly very angry at the end of the game.
The game actually started brightly and in the first minute the hosts broke down the left. But this ended with Andy Crowther shooting high over.
On seven minutes, a Robbie Maddox piledriver was tipped onto the bar and over for a corner by Marc Wright.
But from this point on, the game went downhill. Both sides had chances, in particular Scott Devlin and Shane Gill for Malvern while Kevin Byrne, David Glass and Maddox all went close for Rothwell.
Everyone hoped for and improvement after the break and there was from the visitors.
At last, they put some pressure on the home side – but still failed to find a way through.
The last 10 minutes belonged to Rothwell. Substitute Kyle Locklin had a shot saved by Wright and, with two minutes to go, Ali Wiltshire put a good chance inches wide.
In the final minute, Rothwell had a good shout for a penalty when
Locklin was pushed over but referee Paul Upton saw no wrongdoing.
The last action of the game saw Maddox head over.
Luckily for Rothwell, other results went favourably and they remain clear of the relegation places.
But whether they can stay out of them all depends on today's game at Cecil Street against Aylesbury – and, yet again, other results.
Malvern: Wright, Stanford, Clayton, Critcher, Cannon, Snook, Crowther (sub Parsons, 14 mins), Devlin (sub Allington, 78 mins), Williams, Gill (sub Jones 55 mins), Malins.
Rothwell: Malong, Hackett, Glass, Marlow (sub Maude, 66 mins), Flannigan, White, F Koriya, Boyle-Chong (sub Wiltshire, 66 mins), Goodall (sub Locklin, 82 mins), Byrne, Maddox. Subs not used: McIlwain, Dorrill.
Referee: Mr P Upton.
Attendance: 49.
Booking: Hackett (foul).
Rothwell man of the match: Bobby White (stout performance in central midfield).
Match rating: 4.
