Saltmen 3-3 Feckenham

By Craig Gibbons

DROITWICH Spa missed out on the opportunity to climb to the top of the Midland League Division Two table as they twice let a lead slip to allow local rivals Feckenham to salvage a well-deserved point.

Having already beaten the Millers twice this season, in the league and Presidents Cup respectively, the Saltmen looked set to make it a hat-trick of wins over the visitors as Jamie Smith and Haydn Morris fired Spa 2-0 up after 17 minutes.

That lead, however, did not last long as Ben Cox and Jordan Adams pulled Feckenham level by the half-hour mark but their hard work was undone as Nick Seabourne nosed the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time with a delightful lobbed effort.

The second half yielded little action until a sublime strike from Cox in the 71st minute from 25 yards out made it all square once again.

But the drama was not over as Feckenham’s Jack Brimmell saw a goal disallowed before Bradley Burgess’ injury time volley was cleared off the line in spectacular fashion by Millers skipper Daniel Williams to salvage a point.

The point moved Spa up to second in the table but they will feel it is a missed opportunity to go top as they took the lead after just seven minutes. After Jamie Smith’s corner was poorly cleared, he followed up with a powerful shot which squirmed underneath Feckenham keeper Josh Goddard and into the net.

Luke Molloy then saw an effort hacked off the line three minutes later as Spa looked to build on their lead before Daniel Murphy missed a chance to pull the Millers level after getting the ball trapped under his feet in the penalty area up the other end.

Spa’s pressure though eventually paid off in the 17th minute when Morris superbly volleyed home at the first time of asking from Seabourne’s knock down following Jack Brighton’s cross on the right-hand side.

Just three minutes later Feckenham pulled a goal back as poor marking allowed Cox to creep round at the back post before guiding an effort through the legs of Spa keeper Matthew Oliver and into the back of the net.

And then on the half hour mark it was all square as more defensive woes allowed Adams to prod home at the back post from Murphy’s half-volley from inside the area.

But with the scores looking set to go into the break at 2-2, a brilliant piece of play saw the Saltmen reclaim their lead. A long punt upfield from Smith was flicked on by James Lemon and then Molloy into the path of Seabourne who lobbed a delightful effort over Goddard into the roof of the net.

After the break, Andrew Liddle was a whisker away of levelling the scores as his diving header shaved the top of the crossbar before Smith saw another low effort saved by Goddard in the 62nd minute.

Football seemed to take a back seat as a procession of free-kicks spoiled any rhythm of passing but in the 71st minute, a stunning long-range effort from Cox flew over Oliver’s head and into the back of the net to pull Feckenham level once again.

With five minutes to go, Seabourne saw a header drift just wide of the angle of the crossbar and post before James Halsall could only fire a tame shot in the area wide of the target.

Feckenham thought they had snatched a late winner two minutes from time but Brimmell was flagged up for offside but that was not the end of the drama.

Deep into injury time, Spa were scratching their heads as to how they had not snatched the three points themselves as Burgess saw a powerful volley from ten yards out cleared off the line in superb fashion.

With Goddard stranded, Williams jumped to his right like a proverbial salmon to wonderfully head clear and his efforts were duly applauded by the 78-strong crowd at the King George Playing Fields as the game ended 3-3.