MALVERN Town finished on the wrong side of another five-goal thriller at the HDanywhere Community Stadium as Bewdley Town claimed a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.
Les Jones side looked to be heading for a heavy defeat when James Baldwin put Bewdley 3-0 in front with just over 20 minutes to go in the match.
The goal also sparked an angry reaction from Town’s players and coaches as they felt the ball had not gone over the line before Niall Hacking got back to claw it away.
However, Malvern responded in superb style as Matthew Turner and Sam Rathbone struck late on to set up a grandstand finale.
Having been dumped out by Walsall Wood four days earlier by the same scoreline, Town were determined to get back to winning ways and they almost got off to the perfect start.
After James Lush put pressure on Rob Dalloway in the Bewdley goal, Rathbone got on the end of the keeper’s kick and put the ball into the box, but Reece King failed to apply the final.
Malvern then went behind as a corner fell to captain Rich Costello who headed home to give his side the lead.
The 29th minute goal was all that separated the two sides at half time as they played out a dour first period, which presented few chances for either team.
Bewdley were on top and they added a second ten minutes into the second half.
Substitute Alex Kilgour scrambled the ball home after desperate Malvern defending denied the visitors on three occasions.
The controversial moment then came on the 68th minute when Baldwin lofted the ball over the advancing Hacking. The Malvern keeper appeared to have got back in time to stop it from going over the line, but the referee thought otherwise, which gave Bewdley a 3-0 lead.
This also appeared to have ended the contest as the match entered its final 15 minutes, but the hosts refused to give in and they got their reward.
After collecting Dave Herbert’s pass, Turner strode into the box before placing the ball over Dalloway and into the net. This seemed to turn the match on its head as Malvern suddenly sparked into life.
Turner then gave Town a second when he headed in Rathbone’s cross with two minutes left, but it proved to be too little too late for Malvern as Bewdley clung on to secure all the three points.