WALKER HELPS KNARESBOROUGH RUN AWAY WITH VICTORY AT DRONFIELD

DRONFIELD TOWN 0 V KNARESBOROUGH TOWN 3
NCEL PREMIER AT STONELOW ROAD
18 AUGUST 2015 7.45PM

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION THE NEW ENTRANCE AT DRONFIELD TOWN

A second half Brad Walker double strike for the visitors saw Knaresborough over the line to a comfortable victory even though even thought the opening ten minutes had seen Dronfield dominant.  The success though came at the cost of a broken arm, in 3 places, to the visitors captain Matt Duerden who the blog sends its best wishes to for a comfortable and speedy recovery.

OVERVIEW WITH THE 'GREAT WALL' TO THE RIGHT

As ever before the game here is a little about the journey and as usual mid week games are nearly always local to base and tonight the train was taken to Dronfield and at 7 minutes must be one of the shortest train journeys the blog has taken probably only surpassed by Batley to Dewsbury and Tamworth to Lichfield.  It was I believe the first time I have taken the train from base to Dronfield.  Mid week visits are always added to by the expectant visit to The Jolly Fryer for the English delicacy but tonight the heart sank when the sign open again following refurbishment was followed by the viewing of a shiny new looking establishment.  Clearly a change of ownership had taken place but upon sampling the fish and chips I can say they were enjoyable and the premises have clearly had a lot of money spent on them in modernisation and hopefully I shall look forward to re visiting during the season.  Early arrival at the game allowed a quick catch up and warm welcome, as ever, from manager Craig Butler and Rich Stevenson along with local official to base Brittany Smith who I have to thank for a superb offer of a journey back to base later, thanks!

THE NEW ENTRANCE FROM OUTSIDE

This season has seen Dronfield open there new entrance on Frithwood Drive which thankfully now negates the always precarious trip across the cricket pitch on darker evenings.  There is it has to be noted no parking allowed on the street and visitors should still use the club car park in respect of the local houses on this narrow road.  The entrance pay box has been transferred to this new entrance along with a new added concrete walkway there is also a nicely fence lamp lit route to the ground.  The club are also in the process of adding a new snack cabin upon arrival this will work on match days and I guess hospitality especially handy with tonight the cricket pavilion out of use for the football club and service being undertaken from under a gazebo, good effort though by the club.
The remainder of the ground though remains the same with the description in last season blog still applying, there are though plans for improved drainage to take place as most people will know the club suffers from many postponement's due to the wet weather, hopefully this can improve the situation for the club.

PRE MATCH TACTICS MANAGER CRAIG BUTLER [LEFT] AND RICH STEVENSON [RIGHT]

Unfortunately the crowd was on the low side at 35 but it was good to see a few officials and supporters make the long mid week trip from Knaresborough it would be good to see a large town like Dronfield come along and get behind Craig and his team too.

REFEREE DANNY JARVIS LEAD OUT HIS TEAM AND THE TEAMS

To the game then as ever and after the first 10 minutes it looked like it would be Dronfield's night but as so often happen the other team goes forward for their first attack and scores and so it was to be for Knaresborough tonight.  A looping ball in the box was not dealt with by the home defence and Fraser Lancaster pounced to head the visitors into the lead.  Indeed a few minutes later Ally Wilson had a great chance to double the lead but his back post header went wide.  It looked like Lancaster had his second when he converted Walker's cross only for the offside flag to be raised to curtail the celebrations.
With ten minutes to go before half time Knaresborough lost their captain Matt Duerden to a painful arm injury that later turned out to be a broken arm in three places following a mid air challenge between three players.
The visitors were increasingly looking dominant and they did double their lead on 54 minutes when Walker crashed home a glorious 25 yard strike past James Savage in the home goal.  It was Savage who saved Dronfield further damage with an excellent double save form Walker on 62 minutes before Dronfield's task got harder with 9 minutes remaining when Ash Morley was dismissed for an alleged punch spotted by eagle eyed referee Danny Jarvis.

HANDS UP

With the home side now further weakened Walker bundled through on the inside of the left of the box to fire past Savage to get his 2nd and Knaresborough's third to secure all three points for their trip back to Yorkshire.
The 90 minutes had been a scrappy affair with Dronfield fielding a young side who will need a confidence boost to aid their season soon and the undoubted work put in by the clubs management here hopefully will find that too.