DROITWICH Spa suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat away at Cirencester Town as the Saltmen missed the chance to move top of the table.
Andy Crowther’s side suffered a second-half collapse as Spa shipped five goals after the break at the Corinium Stadium.
That came after Sam Hurdman’s strike put the Saltmen ahead at the break only for Cirencester to stun the visitors in the second period.
The result means Droitwich sit second in the Hellenic League Premier Division table, one point behind leaders Roman Glass St George with a game in-hand.
Spa went close early on as Cory Rudd saw his effort from distance travel over the crossbar.
And Cirencester’s Ed Scott then produced a crucial goalline clearance to prevent Josh Hurdman’s inswinging corner from finding the net.
The home side spurned a golden chance to open the scoring at the other end when George Peare blazed the ball over the bar from close range.
That came after Dom Rogerson parried Harlie Price’s free-kick into Peare’s path only for the latter to somehow miss the target.
And Spa broke the deadlock on 24 minutes when S Hurdman fired a low drive through a crowd of bodies and into the net from 25-yards out.
Cirencester almost drew level soon after as Price saw his effort come back off the woodwork.
The Saltmen almost doubled their lead at the end of the first period as Cirencester’s Kyle Pitts made a last-ditch tackle to deny Alex Dugmore a shot on goal.
However, the home side equalised moments after the break when Price tapped in Theo Jeremy’s low ball into the box from the left.
Spa goalkeeper Rogerson then denied Jonty Welch before Price fired wide from a promising position in the box.
Droitwich thought they had reclaimed the lead against the run of play when Dugmore headed Perry Moss’s cross into the bottom corner only for the referee to disallow the goal for an infringement.
And Cirencester made the most of that reprieve to complete the turnaround on 71 minutes as Price headed in Fraser Bell’s deep free-kick.
The home side struck again just five minutes later when Aidan Bennett turned another Jeremy cross into the net.
Price completed his hat-trick on 85 minutes with a finish at the near post to all but end the game as a contest.
And Cirencester added a fifth goal three minutes later as Pitts completed the scoring two minutes from time.
To add to Spa’s misery, goalkeeper Rogerson received lengthy treatment towards the end of the game and had to be carried from the field.
Droitwich are next in action against Tuffley Rovers on Saturday, November 29 with kick-off at 3pm at the King George Playing Fields.
