Football: Droitwich Spa win WFA Saturday Junior Cup

Spa battled back from a half-time deficit to defeat Malvern Town Reserves 2-1 in the final at Pershore Town on Saturday.

Ben Tilbury, who had hit the frame of the goal early on, equalised with a free-kick before a Matt Hunt header completed the turnaround.

“It was a really close game and that was what we expected. We knew from their form throughout the competition that we could not take it lightly,” said Owen.

“The first half confirmed that and to be fair they deserved to be one up. There were a few choice words at half-time, even though the wind had made it difficult and more of a battle.

“We changed a few things at half-time and a few minutes into the second half and they paid off. In the end we ran out worthy winners but were well and truly in a game for 45 minutes.”

It rounds off a season where Spa ended up third in West Midlands League Division One behind local rivals Worcester Raiders and Darlaston Town.

Summarising the season, Owen said: “Both were organised sides with good players and we had no problem with how it panned out.

“We have a younger side, we don’t have the experience that Raiders and Darlaston do and we are still on a journey where the lads are learning.

“We had a spell where we lost three on the bounce and if we had those points we would have won it.

“It is not a massive gap to bridge but we do have to be better in the bigger games, we got done by Raiders and Darlaston twice and those points were important with it being so close at the top.

“They were better than us, no problems. Now we have to learn, bridge the gap and try to develop the squad by bringing in players.

“To compete with those two sides, finish third and then see some 250 Droitwich fans come to a cup final was great for the club. It was a really good way to finish off and now the hard work starts ahead of next season.

“We came up slightly short but it was another good 12 months and with the cup win we are over the moon with the season.”