THE WAIT for a first win against Whitchurch continues for Droitwich Spa Hockey Club as their Men’s 1st side slumped to a 3-1 defeat last Saturday.
Craig Timmis’ goal gave the hosts a chance of ending their poor record against the Shorpshire side, but a quick-fire double after the break dashed their hopes.
Droitwich, who continued their policy of using youngsters in their starting line-up, got off to a bright start and put the ball in the back of the net. But Simon Baines’ first minute strike was disallowed following a stick infringement.
Spa then suffered a further set back when Whitchurch opened the scoring after a well-worked short corner routine.
Despite falling behind, Spa continued to attack with Brett Gwillam combining well with Andrew Rollason who used his trickery to gain space.
The home side’s pressure soon told as Timmis found the bottom right hand corner of Whitchurch’s net to level the game at 1-1.
This was how it stayed for the rest of the first half and for a large part of the second period. Droitwich looked the more likely to score as Joe Neal and Mark Bartle continuing to play the ball out-wide to the impressive Baines.
However, their failure to fashion a clear cut chance proved pivotal as Whitchurch turned the game on its head with two goals in quick succession.
Droitwich threw caution to the wind in the final stages of the game, but they could not get the goal they were looking for as their best chance sailed just wide of the near post.
It was a better day at the office for Droitwich Spa Vets who claimed a 4-2 victory over Pershore Vets thanks to a hat-trick from James Bishop.
His goals all came in the first half as Droitwich opened up a commanding 3-0 lead. Pershore asserted more authority in the second half and eventually got themselves on the score-sheet.
Tireless defending from Spa restricted the home side opportunities before Timmis converted Neal’s short corner to make it 4-1. Pershore had the final say in the match, though, as they bagged their second late on.
Elsewhere, Droitwich Spa Ladies 2nds were unable to back up their 1-0 win at Stourport 6s as they were crushed 6-1 by Stratford.
Four goals in as many minutes put the visitors in the driving seat before the Warwickshire side cancelled out Georgie Gibbs’ second half effort with two more goals.
Meanwhile, Droitwich Spa Ladies 1sts kicked off the New Year with a 1-0 win at Pershore Ladies 1sts, with Lucy Hine grabbing the only goal of the game.