Montpellier 3-1 Droitwich Spa

The Saltmen were defeated again, this time at high-flying Montpellier, but the hosts were made to work for the victory.

Droitwich were the better side for the majority of the first half, albeit without overly troubling home 'keeper Craig Johnson.

Bradley Burgess, James Lemon and Nick Seabourne all had oppotunities, but all failed to hit the target. At the other end Matt Oliver Barry Healey and former professional Stuart Hendrie, while the lively Jacob Snape was causing the visiting defence all kinds of problems and the hosts were in the ascendancy as the half wore on.
'Pelliers broke the deadlock on 33 minutes after lax defending from the Saltmen allowed Snape to rise unchallenged to bury a header.

Droitwich had a good spell at the beginning of the second half too, but again could not find a way past Johnson.

The hosts doubled their advantage after a loose ball from Seabourne in the middle of the park sold Pardoe short, and from the next phase of play Stuart Hendrie got in behind the Spa defence and fired in expertly into the far corner of the net 5 minutes after the restart.

Droitwich immediately halved the deficit after forcing a corner, Burgess's pin point cross gave Seabourne a bread & butter chance that he gleefully accepted by heading home at the near post from a matter of yards out.

The noisy visiting supporters were hoping that their side would pile the pressure on in search of an equaliser, but the onslaught never materialized and as the game wore on, Spa grew more frustrated and Montpellier dealt with everything that was thrown at them with relative ease.

They had chances themselves with Ammo, Hendrie & Snape all forcing a save from Matty Oliver, and on 72 minutes a third goal came. Great work from substitute Charlie Neath who took the ball around three Spa defenders before another good low finish into the bottom corner to wrap up the points. Droitwich battled well for long periods and there was not to choose between the two sides overall, but Mark Owen will surely be perplexed by his sides defending as they slumped to their 6th league defeat with just one win in their last 5 outings.