Droitwich spa hockey club went into the second game of the weekend looking for another three points and to keep the pressure on leaders Wolverhampton, by closing the gap to three points but Wolverhampton would still have a game in hand.

Spa started slowly conceding a short corner in the opening minutes of the game which was disallowed as the shot was above the back board height as well as their forward being free at the back post before a last ditched tackle from Spa right back cleared the ball.

Droitwich soon found their stride going forward as the channels were begun to be used, but there was further joy passing the ball around which released midfielder Dave Hindle who fired a right wing cross which the keeper parried leaving Oliver Oxley to powerfully strike the ball home past the prone home keeper.

Droitwich lead did not last for long as Wednesbury equalised from a neatly worked penalty corner routine. Despite this set back continued to attack with pace with Andrew Rollason and Marcus Claytor providing a threat going forward as Wednesbury tried desparately to keep the away side but conceded several short corners; with Barry Williams coming close to scoring but having his effort saved.

Spa went further behind from a quickly worked free hit which saw a cross find the home side forward to found the corner giving the home side a 2-1 lead. Shortly after Wednesbury had another short corner effort ruled out for from a short corner as the first shot was above the back boards. After this Spa became over ran in midfield as Wednesbury put three men in there, but they relied on long hits and pressure to create further opportunities. With seven minutes of the half remaining Spa equalised with Barry Williams providing the final touch after another penalty corner was conceded. The half finished frentically as both sides gave the ball away, but it ended 2-2.

Spa in the second half worked harder to shut Wednesbury down, as they pushed higher up the pitch.

This pressed the space forcing the home side to hit long balls to their forwards which spa contained although they did have to rely on Keeper Cameran Grant to save one effort which was cleared further by Barry Williams, and the away side had Chris Wade to thank with the following Penalty Corner who stopped a shot at the top of the Circle as Wednesbury Captain took aim.

As Wednesbury continued to attack their right hand side became more open and Olive Oxley had the time to pick passes sending Tommy Ross clear who could not find the cross.

Midway through the second half, Spa won a Penalty Corner which saw the initial effort cleared behind all the onrushing forwards only for Andrew Rollason to dispatch his low effort to beat the keeper and edge Spa ahead once more.

The only moment of alarm came in the dying minutes, as another long ball eluded the defence and hit the post and rebounded to safety. With 2 minutes to go, Pete Best was sin binned for arguing with the Umpires, and Spa had to defend one man down, but still came away with a 3-2 win.

Droitwich Spa Hockey Club

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