Droitwich Spa edge past Longlevens to keep Hellenic League title bid alive
Droitwich Spa edged past Longlevens to keep their Hellenic Premier title bid alive, winning 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Charlie Tilley’s 27th minute effort was the difference in the end, with Longlevens once again being edged out in a league fixture.
This weekend’s defeat is their 14th in their league season and incredibly, 11 of them have been by a singular goal – with this their 5th 1-0 defeat at home this season.
Levens still have six games to play in the next fortnight, as they look to secure a top 10 finish after their mathematical safety was secured last weekend.
Next up they host Westfields on Monday, before a trip to Hallen on Thursday night and Pershore Town next weekend.
For Droitwich, they move up to 2nd in the table after the victory and Worcester Raiders’ defeat at home to Fairford Town.
Droitwich sit eight points behind leaders Slimbridge with a game in hand and four games left in total.
The Swans need five points to win the league from their remaining three games, with four points likely to be enough due to the superior goal difference.
Droitwich host Hereford Pegasus on Easter Monday whilst Slimbridge head to Tuffley Rovers.
Depending on Monday’s results, we could be in for a huge weekend next week as 1st head to 4th in Roman Glass St George, whilst 3rd place Worcester Raiders welcome Droitwich at the same time.
Saturday’s game at Saw Mills started with both sides creating chances. Jack Beardsell headed over from a great ball in from the left, whilst the visitors won a couple of corners early on.
The best chance of the half ended in the opener as Charlie Tilley held off his man in the box, before firing past Drew Brei.
Jack Holmes screwed an effort wide for the hosts, before Brei produced a great save to keep out James Baldwin after he danced into the box, with James Lemon slicing the follow up wide.
It was much better from Longlevens after the break, with Dafydd Hyett slotting home just after half time – but the offside flag had stopped any celebrations in their tracks.
Beardsell flicked a corner towards goal, but his effort was cleared off the line.
Droitwich promised a lot going forward, but struggled to create any clear cut chances to double their lead – but the onus was on Longlevens to show their quality in the final third, in essence, the game was drifting to a 1-0 away win.
Droitwich keeper Joe Stockton produced two game saving saves to earn his side the points in the final ten minutes.
First, he leapt to his right to save Cam Williams’ whipped free kick. Then Stockton dived to his left to palm a Beardsell effort round for a corner.
And that was that, in a game where chances were few and far between, Droitwich claimed a huge win that kept them sniffing for an unlikely title, but still kept their momentum building for a likely play-off run.
Longlevens: Brei, Roddis, Byard, Long, Wells, Holmes, Beardsell, Sherchan, Hyett, Driscoll, Knight
Subs: Spencer, O’Connor, Williams, Lodge, Valenti
Droitwich Spa: Stockton, Brighton, Phillips, Rudd, Sauntson, Tilbury, Moss, Tilley, Lemon, Binner, Baldwin
Subs: Hudman, Jackson, Taylor-Randle, Levy, Dallaway
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Alex Knight (Longlevens)
