Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s David Bell
Dronfield Town suffered a tough defeat in tricky conditions at the hands of playoff-seeking South Normanton Athletic in their latest United Counties League Division One fixture. A strange penalty gave the hosts the lead through Mason Booth-Davis but Dronfield equalised right on the stroke of half time through Dan Shelbourne. Booth-Davis put South Normanton ahead in an incident-packed second half but Athletic saw Ashley Radmore dismissed for two quick yellow cards with 13 minutes to play. Dronfield equalised through substitute Sam Bebbington almost immediately but suffered heartbreak as Shiners’ sub Lewis Macaskill’s deflected effort saw all three points remain at the Transcare Arena. Dronfield remain in tenth place in the table as a result and now await the visit of Pinchbeck United to the Stonelow Stadium on Saturday for their next fixture.
Rain turned to sleet and snow as the game got underway. South Normanton initially spent periods in the Dronfield half and it took the visitors around ten minutes to assert themselves. However, neither side really managed a chance of any significance.
The stalemate was broken in the 15th minute. A seemingly innocuous challenge by Isaac Reardon on Mason Booth-Davis saw the referee pointing to the penalty spot, causing ire in the Dronfield ranks. Booth-Davis rolled the penalty low to Lewis Naylor’s left and South Normanton were a goal to the good.
Buoyed by the advantage they had been handed, a useful right wing cross saw Naylor making a decent stop from the head of Billy Whitehead four minutes after.
While the game was played at a lively pace on an excellent surface, neither side really created concrete chances although it did take a last ditch tackle from Dan Shelbourne on Booth-Davis after half an hour to save Dronfield’s blushes.
Town did get on level terms right on the stroke of half time however. An excellent curling left footer from Connor Chapell at the edge of the box brought a fine save out of Ross Etheridge but his stop only went as far as Dan Shelbourne, who tapped in from close range to make it 1-1.
The second 45 minutes was much more of a spectacle and it was South Normanton who came out strongly having made three substitutions.
Just one minute had elapsed when sub Lewis Macaskill fed fellow sub Ross Goodwin, who struck the post in another let-off from Dronfield.
Lewis Naylor was forced into an acrobatic save from Josh Scully’s 20 yard free kick on 50 minutes but Dronfield had their moments too – Matt Ord’s rising effort just going wide of the mark on 55 minutes.
South Normanton got their second on 57 minutes. Dronfield’s defending was left wanting as the ball fell into the path of a wide-open Mason Booth-Davis, who fired in from the penalty spot region to make it 2-1.
Dronfield introduced Arthur Pashley, Kellie Marah and Sam Bebbington for Max Rhodes, Matty Ord and Charlie Stewart but there was to be further incident that sparked the game into life.
The 76th minute saw South Normanton’s Ashley Radmore pick up his first yellow card and just a minute later, he was awarded a second and sent from the field.
Dronfield capitalised immediately. From the resulting free kick on the right, a goalmouth scramble saw Sam Bebbington poke home from a couple of yards out to put the teams on level terms once again.
Dronfield suffered heartbreak four minutes from time. Lewis Macaskill’s shot appeared to be off-target but also appeared to take a deflection off a Dronfield player in the melee and ended up in the net, sealing the points for the hosts at 3-2.
It wasn’t the worst performance from Town, matching a talented South Normanton side for long periods but possibly a point from the game would have been a better outcome rather than the disappointment of the defeat. Dronfield get a swift chance to bounce back with the visit of 15th placed Pinchbeck United to the Stonelow Stadium on Saturday.
South Normanton Athletic: Etheridge, Hardy, Marshall, Fields, Yates, Radmore, Booth-Davis, Scully, Ruthven, Morris, Whitehead. Subs: Macaskill L, Macaskill J, Clarke, Snell, Goodwin,
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Reardon, Simpkins, Stewart, Shelbourne, Mawbey, Chapell, Bovill, Rhodes, Walker, Ord. Subs: Bebbington, Pashley, Marah, White, Gladwin.
Attendance: 88
