by Caitlin Valle

Miserable weather conditions seemed no deterrent for the 155 supporters who came to watch Droitwich Spa beat Hallen FC 3-0 at Kingy’s.

The game started fast, hardly 60 seconds after the starting whistle Droitwich found themselves in front after Perry Moss carried the ball 20 yards down the pitch, and after two unsuccessful pops himself, Josh Hurdman hit a stellar volley to put the Saltmen’s first attack of the game in the net for his 4th goal of the season.

However after this, the game began to dry out. Neither keeper was overly tested, but Hallen were the better team, playing some good football in the middle of the park. The first half left a lot to be desired for both sets of fans, as it finished 1-0.

The second half started the way the first ended, with there being nothing of note until the 75th minute, where Rogerson makes a brilliant save against Hallen’s Gardener who was able to break through 1v1.

Pressure against the Spa back line ramped up from that, with Gardener once again causing trouble for the defence, narrowly missing a second chance to capitalise in the 83rd minute.

Both Crawford and Fairman’s attempts in the 85th and 86th minutes were saved by Rogerson, putting some stress on the Spa heartstrings.

On 87 minutes, completely against the run of play, a low cross for substitute James Lemon from Taylor- Randle is put away at close range to put the score at 2-0.

During injury time, an apparent tactical masterclass from Andy Crowther as substitute Joe Hurdman breaks the offside trap and squares the ball to another substitute, Nathan Binner, making the game 3-0 with a tap to an open net.

With only 3 shots on target all game, Spa can be described as nothing but clinical. A tough game to watch at times for Droitwich fans, but this 3-0 win makes the Saltmen the league leaders by a point, and the top scorers to go along with it -also providing our 3rd clean sheet in 3 games.

Following the game, Hallen have been pushed into the relegation zone.
Droitwich hit the road next Saturday, travelling down to Hallen’s Bristol neighbours Cribbs (ko 3pm).