FOLLOWING THE SALTMEN

Hellenic League Premier Division

14 April 2026; Allpay Park

Attendance: 109

It’s an hour drive from Droitwich to Hereford but for some reason it always feels longer. If there was a nice, straight dual carriageway and a couple of tunnels it would halve the travel time. But after staring at the back of a delivery truck and then a tractor and trailer for what felt like a fortnight, Jaddy, Don and FTS arrived at The Golden Lion pub just a stone’s throw from Allpay Park.

For the second time in four days the Saltmen made their patchy recent form look like a distant memory. A bit like the confusing (to me) exit from the otherwise excellent Allpay Park, it was all one way traffic, pretty much.

The hosts started brightly but Spa grew into the game and soon had a grip of the midfield. Wide men Josh Hurdman and James Baldwin looked dangerous and the only surprise was that it took half an hour for them to open the scoring through the very same James Baldwin. The game had barely restarted before Spa doubled their lead with a neatly converted by Ben Tilbury.

Half time came and we retired to the smart clubhouse to dry off from the persistent drizzle.

The second half started as the first half ended, with Spa exerting an iron grip of the midfield while constantly probing for opportunities to increase their advantage. In fairness, it didn’t take long coming. On 50 mins a tantalising low cross from Baldwin was converted at the far post by Alex Dugmore. Five minutes later, Will Dallaway calmly added a fourth in a mirror image of the third. This time, an impressive Josh Hurdman was the provider of the cross from wide right.

With 66 minutes played, Nathan Binner sprang from the bench to make his 100th Spa appearance.

The Saltmen closed their account for the evening on 73 minutes when Jack Brighton’s inch perfect far post cross was met Alex Dugmore’s inch perfect half-volley to record his 100th goal for Spa.

The hosts grabbed a good consolation goal through Raiyan Ahmed on 82 minutes, although I suspect it didn’t feel particularly consoling.

There was still time for Perry Moss to win a second penalty of the evening. With regular penalty taker Ben Tilbury already back on the bench, Pez would have been next in line for the spot kick. Selflessly he allowed Duggers the chance to complete his hat trick. He shouldn’t have done that, as a great save from Ryan Smallwood in the Westfields goal thwarted our hero’s plan.

The FTS Man of the Match award goes to James Baldwin who looked dangerous every time he had the ball at his feet and opened the scoring.

The result guarantees Spa a home tie in the first round of the playoffs. A win over Mangotsfield and a favour from our friends at Lydney could even see Spa finish in second place.

If the game at Westfields does prove to be our final road trip of the season then it is fitting that Allpay Park was the venue. A proper football club, nice people and a great place watch football. It’s a shame our game clashed with a home game at nearby Edgar Street, which undoubtedly reduced the attendance quite significantly despite the presence of another large travelling contingent from Salt Nation.

Back to Kingys on Saturday for the last game of the regular season.

See you there.

Cheers

FTS