MANAGER John Snape lauded star turn Sam Gilder for defying his critics with a pair of stunning saves that saved Worcester City’s bacon.

Gilder pushed a point-blank drive from ex-Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake on to the underside of the bar and later repelled a Jak Barnes header from similar range with City already a goal down to Walsall Wood.

Within a minute of that second save, George Forsyth plundered the leveller to punish Wood’s profligacy and turn what had been a tight match into an end-to-end shootout.

It remained 1-1 but Gilder’s heroics proved decisive with Snape hopeful his display will win over any naysayers.

“Sam has come in for some harsh criticism in the past couple of months,” said Snape.

“He has had to wait for his chance which came when Dan (Jezeph) got suspended but since coming in, Sam has got his sea legs back.

“He was outstanding for the whole game, not just with those top-class saves and I am delighted for him.

“I thought Grant Horton was our best outfield player, he was outstanding as well.

“For a 17-year-old lad his composure and ability to pass the ball was very good. I would like our youth lads to look at that and see that they can get amongst it.”

Wood had by far the better of the first half, warranting the lead earned by an opportunist back-post finish by Ebanks- Blake.

“If you had told me at half-time that we would get a draw I would have been over the moon to be honest,” Snape added.

“We probably should have been two or three down coming in but both sides were guilty of missing some good chances in the second half.

“We looked rusty in the first half having not played for a couple of weeks but that is not an excuse because we work hard in training.

“There were some harsh words at half-time and we made a couple of changes, which I think worked.

“Jamie Smith and Jamal Lawrence came off but in truth, we could have changed anyone because after that first 15-minute spell we did not get near them.

“We fell into the trap of letting the tempo drop, we did not play our one and two-touch football. They put us under pressure through their front three and I expected better from the players we have.

“Kyonn Evans deserves a lot of praise because he came on and gave their backline a different player to handle, causing them problems with his strength.

“We had a couple of chances before that when it bounced around the box and we didn’t quite hit the target.

“To be fair to Fozzy (Forsyth), he showed that bit of class to slot in (the equaliser). I don’t think anyone else could have put it there, it was a magic strike from him.

“Both sides will be disappointed not to have won the game at the end of that second half.

“It was like a cup tie. The fans really got behind us, they didn’t have much to cheer in the first half but I thought they were outstanding.

“It got my blood going and made for a really exciting atmosphere.”