Sporting were not at their best for this match but they did eventually manage to grind out a win albeit leaving it until the last minute to get the decider.
Droitwich started of at a very brisk pace with Mitchell Parrish and Tom Sanders coming close in the first two minutes. The home side though settled down quickly and they took the lead from an Aaron Roberts corner which visiting 'keeper Nick West weakly parried to Shaun Maynard who gratefully nodded the ball into the net.
The assumption by both supporters and team was that Sporting would then cruise to a comfortable victory particularly as both strikers narrowly missed further chances. However Droitwich managed to produce a goal from nothing when Craig Brown hit an angled pass through the Sporting defence to teammate Dan Hopkins who rounded Chris Mole for the equaliser. Although it was a good move, Sporting appealed for an offside but these were dismissed by referee Mr Crook.
Cue for Droitwich to then defend in numbers and with much the play in the middle of the park, neither goalkeeper was troubled apart from in the 85th minute when Chris Mole parried a cross to Spa substitute Aaron Austin who hit the bar with the return.
Sporting made a good tactical substitute bringing on new boy Ricky Hammond for Shaun Maynard and after making his presence felt on a few occasions, made it count in the last minute when he climbed well to nod Aaron Roberts' free kick to Chris Bright who volleyed home from 8 yards.
At the end, three hard-earned points for Sporting against a gritty Droitwich side who probably felt they deserved more from the match.
Sporting (red & white shirts, blue shorts, blue socks, 4-4-2) - Chris Mole; Chris Bright, Richard Griffiths (Capt, Nick Allen 72 mins), Danny Patrick, Gareth Rogers; James McKeon, Aaron Roberts, Dan Wilkes (Sander Milicev 90+1 mins), Jamie Rogers; Shaun Maynard (Ricky Hammond 61 mins), Michael Woolman. Substitutes not used: Neil Cooksey, Zach Blood.
Droitwich (all mauve, 4-4-2) - Nick West; Oli Spink, Chris Parish, Tom Sanders (Capt), Liam Jauncey (Alex Kolb 79 mins); Darren Charles (Aaron Austin 76 mins), Craig Brown, Roger Derby, Dan Hopkins; Peter Cartwright (Jay Maycroft 68 mins), Mitchell Parish.
Substitutes not used: Nick Burtoft.
