By Craig Gibbons

Droitwich Spa reached their second cup final of the campaign as they recorded a 3-1 victory over Chelmsley Town at The Pavilion to progress into the last round of the Presidents Cup.

On a glorious sunny day, two goals from leading scorer James Lemon and one from Max Crisp ensured the Saltmen reached their first ever Presidents Cup final while Mitchell Thompson replied for Chelmsley from the penalty spot in the second half.

Spa’s Matt Seeley also proved to be instrumental in the win as two fantastic goal-line clearances from the defender ensured his side walked away with victory.

In the third meeting of the season between the two sides, Spa were looking to put the Les James Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Alvis Sporting Club behind them quickly and they did exactly that as Nick Seabourne came close to opening the scoring in the third minute.

From Jack Brighton’s free kick from the right, Seabourne rose like the proverbial salmon only to see his header back across goal crash against the upright and cleared from danger.

Chelmsley started to make their way into the game and they almost took the lead when Robert Ellis played in Chris Lloyd before cutting the ball back to Kieron Fitzgerald, however, his chipped effort over Spa keeper Matt Oliver was cleared off the line superbly by Seeley to keep the score at 0-0.

Lloyd wasted an opportunity to put Chelmsley in front just after 20 minutes but his free-kick from the edge of the area sailed harmlessly over the goal.

Stephen Sadler almost scored from a long range free-kick for Chelmsley seven minutes later when the ball evaded everybody in the box before bouncing narrowly over the crossbar.

Despite their increasing pressure, it was Chelmsley who fell behind in the 30th minute.

After capitalising on a mix-up at the back, Crisp picked up the ball only to see his shot blocked before the rebound fell to Lemon who prodded home from close range.

Five minutes later, the Saltmen doubled their lead when more poor play at the back from Chelmsley let Lemon in but after rounding the keeper, his shot was blocked and in stepped Crisp to slam home from no more than three yards out.

Seabourne almost put the Saltmen in dreamland in the 40th minute but his cross from the right narrowly drifted over the bar meaning the score remained at 2-0 going into the half-time break.

After the interval, Spa started slowly and lacked the cutting edge they showed in the first which allowed Chelmsley to almost pull a goal back in the 47th minute.

However, after being played through, Lloyd’s imaginative scissor-kick went under Oliver and looked as though it was rolling into the back of the net but it wasn’t to be as Seeley made up the yards to clear the ball off the line in spectacular fashion.

From the resulting corner, another goal-line clearance, but this time from Adam Granger, ensured Spa maintained their two-goal advantage.

Granger was involved again after 58 minutes but for all the wrong reasons as he was adjudged to have bundled over Thompson in the box giving the striker the chance to pull a goal back from the penalty spot.

Thompson duly obliged, sending the ball into the top left-hand corner well out of the reach of Oliver.

However, four minutes later Spa were awarded a penalty of their own when Bradley Burgess was fouled in the area.

Lemon took the penalty only to see his low effort saved but he made amends as he collected the rebound to smash the ball into the roof of the net.

Chelmsley tried to force their way back into the game but despite keeping Spa locked in their own half for the remaining 28 minutes, Spa held on to secure victory and progress to their first ever Presidents Cup final.

Spa’s next game sees them make the trip to Knowle on Saturday, April 9 for a Midland League Division Two clash.