Hellenic League Premier Division
04 August 2026
Attendance: 241
The Saltmen might feel a bit hard done by to suffer their second defeat of the season after falling to a late Cinderford winner at Kingys on Tuesday evening.
The result, while a 300% improvement over the comparable fixture last season, means the first two games of the season have been lost by a single goal. And defeat to a strong Cinderford side is certainly no disgrace.
In truth, it was a well contested game. What it lacked in brawls, it made up for with its fair share of effort and opportunities.
It was another game in which The Saltmen could and maybe should have taken a lead into the half time break. As early as the 7th minute, a lovely through ball from Perry Moss put (Sir) Alex Dugmore through on goal. Duggers’ shot was goal bound but Town keeper, Lewis Adams read the situation and made a good save to prevent the Spa talisman opening his 26/27 account.
Spa keeper Dom Rogerson had to be alert as well. He was called into action to make two important saves before we reached the 20 minute mark. Both sides traded half chances then on 38 minutes Sam Hurdman was inches away from connection with a Lewis Philips far post cross. A couple of minutes later, an improvised backwards flicked header from Duggers hit the Town bar and the sides went into half time with the game goalless.
The second half was barely 5 minutes old when the customary balls-up from the men in black arrived. Sam Hurdman had the ball in the Town net but the referee called play back. The linesman had flagged for offside, not realising the ball which put Sam through was off a Cinderford player. The referee initially waved play on only to then blow his whistle when the linesman raised his flag. It is debatable whether the whistle sounded before the ball had entered the net. The Cinderford players protested and the referee judged that he had blown for the off side before the goal was scored. The referee awarded Cinderford the free kick for offside and Spa were denied a perfectly good goal due to poor communication by the officials.
I know it’s the easy option to blame everything on the match officials but this was the third consecutive competitive game in which poor officiating has had a significant impact on the result. Remember the clown we had for the play-off final who failed to send the R*****s left back off for two terrible challenges in the first 20 minutes. The second offence was bad enough on its own to have warranted a red card! Then, I understand, the referee went to the Spa changing room at half time and apologised for his mistake! Don’t forget this was the same guy who sent Sam Hurdman off earlier in the season in a case of mistaken identity.
I won’t re-hash details of the referee at Roman Glass, other than to say I hope he enjoys his next few Sunday mornings in the alehouse leagues.
Anyway, we were nearly treated to a customary Cory Rudd net buster on 50 minutes but the midfield enforcer’s 30 yard cannonball struck the Town crossbar and seismologists around the country started recording earthquakes. As Spa stretched to find a winner, Cinderford were doing their best to exploit the space this inevitably created a number of decent chances. On 80 minutes Dom Rogerson was called upon the make a fantastic save to repel a goal bound effort from Leeson. Sadly the Cinderford man was not to be denied for much longer as, within a minute, his strike from the edge of the box was too accurate for even Dom to keep out and Town had the lead.
New boys George Dalton and Archie Thurston had been introduced but despite some bright flashes it was too late to save the day and Town took all three points back to the Forest.
The coveted Following the Saltmen Man of the Match goes to Sam Hurdman. Here at FTS we are delighted Sam rejected the summer overtures of the evil R*****s and stayed at Kingys. An outstanding performance from a man who just keeps getting better.
Next up it’s the Road to Wembley as we travel up the M5 and M6 to play Dudley in the FA Cup.
See you there.
Cheers
FTS
Leave a Reply