DROITWICH Spa Men’s Firsts got their first three points of the West Midlands Division One campaign as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Yardley.
Craig Timmis and Brett Gwillam made their first appearances for Spa who started brightly, staying compact and playing the ball out wide before switching directions to create spaces for the youngsters to exploit.
From one long corner, Tommy Ross sprayed the ball from left to right to set Timmis free to pass to David Purchase who saw his shot smothered by the Yardley keeper.
Yardley for their part wasted their chances as they try to hit Spa on the break. Spa continued to hold the ball, looking to create chance but despite winning penalty corners, they lacked the composure to slot those opportunities away.
At the start of the second half, Spa pushed on with Matthew Lee playing out wide, looking to exploit the gaps Yardley were creating as they pushed higher up the pitch.
Lee then rounded off a fine counter-attacking moved six minutes later, finishing with a low revers shot which beat the keeper to his left.
Following this, Andrew Rollason’s pace caused the Yardley left-back all sorts of problems as he was beaten constantly and the defender resorted to stick checks in the circle which lead to penalty corners.
From one of those penalty corners, Lee was on hand to flick on a close range effort which the Yardley keeper saved well low down.
Yardley started to look after the ball for the remainder of the game and a swift counter-attack saw them pull one back but it wasn’t enough as Spa closed out the win.
Coach Simon Baines said: “Following the Redditch display it was something that we spoke about, to be patient and to press the ball where ever possible which enabled us t transfer the ball quickly utilsing the pace that is in the side.
“Its excellent to get a win so early on as it gives the team confidence and impetus which is important.”
Baines is now looking forward to taking on early pacesetters West Bromwich on Saturday (1.10pm start).
He added: “This will be an early yardstick for this side to see where we are at, as West Bromwich have been scoring freely in their first two games, and are pushing for promotion.
“West Brom are a good all round side who are potent from penalty corners with Paul Compton bagging nine already this season.
“If we keep it tight defensively and make them work hard for the ball we will be able to match them and nick some goals as we look for a positive result.”
The Men’s Seconds are still waiting to score their first West Midlands Division Two goal as they were beaten 1-0 by Solihull Blossomfield.
During the match, there was very little to split the two sides as the game look destined for a draw until Blossomfield netted a late winner.
With both defences were on top, it was no surprise that Spa’s Tom Brockett triumphed with the man-of-the-match award.
Spa entertain Wolverhampton on Saturday (12pm start).
