Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s David Bell
It may only have been a battle between two teams in the lower half of the table but Dronfield Town claimed a significant win over Gedling MW at Stonelow on Tuesday evening. A turgid first half saw Gedling claim a 32nd minute lead through Jack Jepson and the game still lacked spark until the hour mark. However, the introduction of Jack Worrall for Town provided the required impetus as he struck a 79th minute free kick and then put Dronfield into the lead with three minutes to play. The persistence of Emmanuel Rogers set up Max Rhodes for Dronfield’s third deep in added time and the full three points for the first time since 4th August. Town climb to 14th in UCL Division One as a result and have the boost of taking on Step 5 Handsworth FC at the Stonelow Stadium on Saturday in the FA Vase.
The opening to the contest was decidedly scrappy and it took until the 13th minute for Gedling’s Jonny Gilbert to fire over the bar from distance and for Dronfield’s Callum Martin to force a save out of keeper Samuel Orioye.
Carrying on from the weekend, Dronfield skipper Lewis Naylor produced a terrific double save from Gedling centre forward Ethan Widdowson just before the half hour mark but he was powerless to see the Notts side take the lead.
Jack Jepson carved his way through the Dronfield defence and tapped the give-and-go into an empty net to make it 1-0 in the visitor’s favour.
Gedling almost got a second before half time; Aston Thompson having to hack the ball away after a scramble in the 6 yard box but the teams went in with Gedling in the lead after a decidedly scrappy opening 45 minutes.
The second half started in much the same vein. Gianfranco Ciaurro put his shot straight at Naylor after the resumption but signs that Dronfield were up for the fight came on 59 minutes when Aston Thompson’s back post header only just went wide of the mark.
Dronfield’s first substitution came on the hour mark and it was to prove to be a significant one; Jack Worrall replacing Isaac Reardon.
Just three minutes after however, Gedling’s Kieran Harrison struck a fierce 20 yard free kick that was parried by Lewis Naylor – Jack Jepson’s follow-up goal being immediately ruled out for offside.
The equaliser came on 79 minutes. A free kick from Worrall at the edge of the box took a deflection that wrong-footed Orioye but more-significantly put the sides on level terms.
The hosts were clearly buoyed by this way back into the contest and put up a fine display for the remainder of the game. On 87 minutes, Worrall won the ball in midfield, exchanged passes with fellow sub Max Rhodes and slotted confidently past Orioye to make it 2-1 to the North Derbyshire outfit.
The icing on the cake came four minutes into added time. Another of Dronfield’s ‘super-subs’ Emmanuel Rogers showed great persistence in winning the ball on the bye-line and he squared for Max Rhodes to tap into an empty net to seal the win at 3-1.
The barnstorming finish was much more akin to what Dronfield are capable of and they will need a similar spirit when they welcome Handsworth FC of the NCEL Premier Division to the Stonelow Stadium on Saturday in the FA Vase second qualifying round.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Watters, Ireland, Appleyard, Thompson, Mawbey, Chapell, Reardon, Martin, Bebbington, Benaissa. Subs: Leader, Rhodes, Worrall, Rogers, Morgan.
Gedling MW: Orioye, Gilbert, McCaughey F, Carnelley, Corrigan, Elliott, Jepson, McCaughey H, Widdowson, Harrison, Ciaurro. Subs: Faflik, Draycott, Burrows, Brown, Nowak.
Attendance: 71
