Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s Football Correspondent David Bell
Dronfield Town completed their third win of the United Counties League Division One season to rise to fourth in the table. The game was markedly one of two halves with visitors Dunkirk FC dominating the first period to go in front through an early Isaac Morledge strike. The second half was an entirely different matter as the introduction of the experienced Dan White and Callum Mawbey saw Town run in four goals through a Matt Morton brace, a Sam Bebbington penalty and a delightful Connor Chapell effort. The Derbyshire side climbed above their Nottinghamshire visitors as a result and now have the luxury of a blank midweek before making their longest trip of the season to Pinchbeck United next Saturday.
An early break from Matt Morton saw the striker in the clear but his pass to Matty Ord put the midfielder in an offside position. That was about as good as it got for Dronfield as visitors Dunkirk went on to take control of the first half.
The fifth minute mark saw the Notts outfit take the lead. Town’s defending was at sixes and sevens as Dunkirk’s Ben Rafferty got free down the left hand side, squaring for Isaac Morledge, who had the simple task of slotting the ball home to make it 1-0.
Dronfield had another let-off five minutes later. Dunkirk leading scorer William Gillies cut inside from the right and unleashed a shot from 20 yards out. Lewis Naylor in the Dronfield goal palmed the ball up and it bounced back out of his line of sight on to the post.
Naylor produced a superlative save to his right hand side from a Mason Garmston effort on 18 minutes; Dronfield’s best foray forward ending with Sam Bebbington being adjudged offside from Charlie Stewart’s left wing delivery.
Both Naylor and Morledge received yellow cards after a contretemps in the dying stages of the half and a low shot from Kieran Diver went narrowly wide from 10 yards out as the whistle blew.
Town introduced Dan White at half time for James Thorpe but it was Dunkirk who continued to threaten. Naylor saved from Rio Murray on 50 minutes; the follow-up being cleared vitally off the line by Dan Shelbourne.
Naylor was called into action once again two minutes later saving at point blank range when one-on-one with Morledge.
Dronfield were indeed improving however and on 57 minutes, a long ball forward saw Matty Ord get in between two defenders but his little dink went wide of the post.
Ord suffered a serious shoulder injury and was replaced by the experienced Callum Mawbey on the hour mark, who steered the ball over the crossbar with his first touch of the game.
His influence was much more keenly felt on 66 minutes however when Dronfield pulled level. Mawbey played a delightful through ball to Matt Morton, who calmly slipped it past Austin Wood in the Dunkirk goal to make it 1-1.
Dunkirk ran their entire bench but went behind on 79 minutes in unfortunate circumstances. Wood, who had gone down injured moments before, limped from his goal to impede the oncoming Arran Bovill. The referee pointed to the spot whereupon Sam Bebbington drilled home a well-taken penalty with the score at 2-1. Wood left the field immediately reducing the visitors to ten men.
Dronfield were rampant from hereon in, running in two further goals before the end of the game. A delightful finish from the edge of the box by Connor Chapell made it 3-1 after 84 minutes and the game was wrapped up 4 minutes later.
Matt Morton calmly turned and drilled home a left footed shot from the top of the box for his second of the game and Dronfield’s fourth as the three points were sealed.
Town climb above Dunkirk as a result of the victory into fourth place in the table. Next up, they travel to eighteenth ranked Pinchbeck United, who claimed their first win of the season with a 1-0 win at Clipstone.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Thorpe J, Gladwin, Stewart, Shelbourne, Vardy, Chapell, Bovill, Morton, Bebbington, Ord. Subs: Fereday, Jay, Benaissa, White, Mawbey.
Dunkirk FC: Wood, Abouraia Y, Rafferty, Murray, Chambers, Butler, Gillies, Abouraia K, Morledge, Diver, Garmston. Subs: Walsh, Harrison, Wilcox, Maxwell, Wilson.
Attendance: 106
