FOLLOWING THE SALTMEN

Cribbs FC 1-1 Droitwich Spa

We here at FTS enjoyed our first trip to Cribbs FC on Saturday. Hold ups on the M5 meant we missed our usual spot of cultural enlightenment at a pub near our opponents’ home and we made straight for the ground.

It looks like Cribbs share their facilities with a local school. If so, the school in question has a better sports set up than my old school. It’s got a bar for starters so I suspect it must be one of those progressive schools where the kids can sit down with Sir and discuss the double football lesson over a few pints of lager. Four football fields and a newish looking hockey field are also present on site. I believe the grounds used to be Bristol Rovers training base and they are certainly extensive enough.

The main stadium pitch is huge. It is noticeably wider than any of the other club pitches we have visited recently. It also offers plenty of cover for the supporters. Two covered seating areas are complemented by a cover for standing fans at the far end of the ground which extends the full width of the pitch.

Unfortunately, the pitch itself did not live up to the standard of its surroundings. If I was one of the tin foil hat brigade I might well think that the World is up for sale and Cribbs FC is where Amazon stuck the bar code.

In reality I suspect the series of full length bare patches are the result of the dry summer spoiling pitch maintenance work done at the start of the close season. Whatever the cause, it has resulted in a playing surface which makes close control while running with the ball something of a lottery. For a Spa side employing fast, tricky wingers, this is a bit of a handicap.

Droitwich dominated the first half in both possession and chances. Nathan Binner had the first chance to trouble the Cribbs defence but with only 10 minutes on the click Spa opened the scoring. Joe Hurdman’s cross was diverted into the path of Charlie Tilley by Cribbs keeper Godden and the Spa number eight’s powerful shot found the Cribbs net.

Cory Rudd hit a howitzer at the home goal only to see it hit the angle of the post and crossbar, which are still vibrating even now!

The Saltmen looked to have doubled their lead after 20 minutes but James Lemon was adjudged to have fouled the Cribbs centre back who looked more intent on stopping Lem than actually getting to the ball. It is interesting to note that referees have now totally abandoned the idea of penalising a player for obstruction. There really didn’t look to be anything wrong with Lem’s challenge. Sadly this would not be the last terrible decision the officials would make. More on that later.

Spa continued to create chances but with leading goalscorer Alex Dugmore sitting on the bench they lacked an attacking spearhead and conceded the aerial threat.

Cribbs equalised with a firmly converted header from a far post corner on 40 minutes and the teams left the field at half time with the scores level.

The second half was scrappy. Both sides huffed and puffed but clear cut chances were few and far between. Changes were made as the half progressed. Josh Hurdman’s replaced brother Joe and Duggers replaced Perry Moss. Spa had the ball in the Cribbs net for a third time but the referee ruled it out for a foul on the Cribbs keeper who had already lost the ball before any minimal contact occurred. The referee had been hugely inconsistent up until that point but then switched to just being consistently bad. Frustrations started to boil over and Duggers was given a spell on the naughty step, presumably for saying something the referee disagreed with. A clearly deflected shot should have resulted in a Spa corner but was missed but worse was to come. A miscontrolled ball cannoned off a Cribbs defender and crossed the goal line by fully three feet. Admittedly, the referee was not helped by his linesman who, by now, had stopped trying to keep up with play, but it really was the case that the referee was the only person in the ground who believed the ball stayed in play.

Godden had a good day in goal for Cribbs and made two or three good saves in the last 15 minutes to deny Droitwich the win. The game ended 1-1 leaving the Spa faithful who made up about 50% of the 80 strong crowd wondering whether this was a point gained or two points lost.

Another excellent performance from Joe Clayton sees him awarded the Following the Saltmen man of the match award.

Next up on Saturday, we welcome Corsham to Kingys at the start of a five game home stand for the men in black and red. A win for the visitors would put them one point behind Spa with a game in hand. Could be a cracker.

See you there.

Cheers

FTS