DROITWICH Spa Ladies booked their place in the semi-finals of the West Midlands Regional League Cup with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Malvern Town Ladies.
After losing out to the same opponents on penalties last week in the semi-finals of the Worcestershire County Cup, Spa avenged the defeat as goals from April Polden, Ellie Gerhold, Mel Curnock and substitute Katie Armento secured a routine win.
However, the game did not start well for Spa as they found themselves behind after a superb free kick from midfielder Michelle Davis could not be kept out by keeper Beth Roberts.
Spa drew level in the 21st minute as Polden controlled Lucy Boswell’s throw in well to volley home from the edge of the area.
Three minutes later, Spa nosed in front as Gerhold latched on to a defence splitting through ball from Diane O’Hare before rounding the keeper to slide the ball into an unguarded net.
Spa added to their tally in the 34th minute as after Polden’s cross was cleared to the edge of the box, Curnock’s powerful drive crashed off the underside of the bar and into the back of the net.
In the second half, Spa continued to assert their dominance but were thwarted in their attempts to add to their goal tally as Malvern keeper Tracy Evans provided a string of saves to keep the score at 3-1.
However, her resistance was broken five minutes from time as substitute Armento added a fourth after volleying home a cross from fellow substitute Naomi Widdows.
After the game, Spa manager Ian Fry praised his squad’s performance and how well they did to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat.
“We completely dominated last week’s match and it was incredibly disappointing to ultimately lose the game and miss out on the County Cup final and the chance to defend the trophy we won last year.
“The girls and I were very focused on making up for that defeat this week, and the girls did just that.
“My players played extremely well. Defensively we were very sound, the midfield players linked the play beautifully and our forwards were a constant threat.
“Overall, a very pleasing performance and one to give us a huge boost as we return to our league campaign next week against Kenilworth.”
