Report by North Derbyshire Radio’s David Bell
Despite battling the conditions of Storm Boelo, Dronfield Town managed to come from behind to secure a draw against table rivals Radford FC. A quality finish from Oakley Kennedy gave the Nottinghamshire visitors a 66th minute lead after both sides fought out a goalless first half. Impact substitutions gave Dronfield a share of the spoils with Jack Worrall setting up Max Rhodes for his ninth goal in seventeen games as the game ended 1-1. The point keeps Dronfield and Radford in their respective positions of eighteenth and nineteenth in the United Counties League Division One table. Town remain at home next Saturday when a game of equal magnitude sees them entertain twentieth ranked Louth Town.
The first half wasn’t high on quality but given the horrendous wind and rain, that was possibly to be expected. A fairly even start saw Dronfield put Radford under pressure with a pair of Sam Bebbington long throws but it was Radford, who belied their place in the table with a series of chances thereafter.
The eleventh minute saw Dronfield stopper Tom Hill get a hand to Fallet Bamba’s sidefooted effort and push it on to the post before the assistant referee flagged for offside.
Veteran frontman Craig Westcarr pulled the ball back on 20 minutes for Oakley Kennedy but his goalbound strike was deflected out for a corner off the Dronfield defensive line.
The lively Bamba got free again ten minutes before the interval but his shot on the angle was again well saved to his left by Hill and five minutes later, Westcarr’s shot was cleared off the line by Dronfield’s Bailey Morgan after a useful cross from the left by Kobi Jones.
The half came to a close shortly after Luke Walker’s solo run ended with his shot going narrowly wide of Radford custodian Curtis Hall’s right hand post.
The second half saw Dronfield come into the game a good deal more as again both sides battled manfully against the poor weather. Radford were the first to show as Ferdinand Bartley’s run up from right back ended with his shot going wide of the mark.
On the hour mark, Sam Bebbington’s shot completely wrong-footed Hall in the Radford goal but the deflection it took only resulted in a Dronfield corner.
Radford took the lead on 66 minutes with a finish of the highest quality. Oakley Kennedy received the ball about 25 yards from goal, picked his spot and curled his right footed strike into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-0 in the visitors favour.
To their credit, Dronfield were undeterred by the setback. Connor Chapell’s ball back into the penalty area on 70 minutes was controlled by Luke Walker but his left footed attempt rose over the crossbar.
The equaliser came on 78 minutes. Substitute Jack Worrall played a neat through ball to fellow sub Max Rhodes, who finished in trademark fashion down the right channel to level the encounter.
Dronfield finished the game the stronger and almost claimed a winner three minutes from time. Rhodes was again ideally placed near the six yard box and it took an outstanding challenge by Radford skipper Harrison Mellors to charge down what could have been a game-winning strike.
The draw was probably a fair result on the balance of play between two evenly-matched sides, who did their best to entertain in some awful weather conditions. Dronfield play another side in and around themselves in the table when Louth Town make the long journey from Lincolnshire to North Derbyshire next Saturday.
Dronfield Town: Hill, Reardon, Stewart, Appleyard, Morgan, Mawbey, Chapell, Bovill, Walker, Bebbington, Wilkinson. Subs: Martin, Rhodes, Worrall, Watters, White.
Radford FC: Hall, Bartley, Mitchell, Mellors, Muchegna, Kennedy, Bamba, Kondolo, Westcarr, Parton, Jones. Subs: Morgan, Kuyateh, Rooke, Martindale, Andrews.
Attendance: 75
