HARSH NIGHT FOR DRONFIELD AS WESTELLA HIT 5

DRONFIELD TOWN 1 V WESTELLA VIP 5
NCEL 1 @ STONELOW RD
31 MARCH 2016 7.45PM

OVER VIEW OF STONELOW RD FEATURING TOWN MANAGER CRAIG BUTLER ON THE LONG WALK

Dronfield Town suffered a rather harsh defeat after scoring first in this Thursday night game.  The home side have a colossal 8 home games in 24 days and tonight's victory will either make or break their run into the season.  A goal after 35 minutes from Sam Bebbington set Town off in the right direction but 2 goals in 3 minutes saw Westella in the lead by the break.  The second half score line was hard on Dronfield who had much possession but were hit very clinically by their visitors on three occasions moves that pulled the home defence all over the place.

ATTEMPTED ARTISTIC PICTURE

So an unusual Thursday night game as clubs look to pull in their overdue matches after this wet winter, of course Dronfield suffer from quite a few postponements and this would be the blogs first visit since early season.  Midweek visits to Stonelow Road are always a little bit fraught with the dash for the 9.49 train and over recent years evening games very rarely seem to kick off on time, tonight's being no exception with a 7.51pm kick off.  So a little appeal to officials can we kick off on time by the time the end of tonight's proceedings were finalised it was 9.47pm and thankfully due to the kindness of Ian a former sports journo colleague he gave me a lift back to base and I did not need to miss the last 15 minutes, many thanks mate!

NO CAPTION NEEDED

As ever and here is another re appearance of fish and chips for you delicacy lovers the evening started at the newly refurbished Jolly Fryer tucked away in the back streets of Dronfield.  Arrival at the ground adequately replenished only to spot the brand new snack back/serving hatch at Stonelow Rd which is a good addition that had been missing and will now give me a dilemma because I prefer to support clubs with food purchases.  I will probably just have to have starters at the Jolly Fryer and the mains at the ground in future!

NEW SNACK BAR WITH PATIO AREA

Much like Heanor last week its always a warm welcome at Dronfield and with my previous involvement with Clay Cross Town it was nice to catch up with both these clubs who have progressed steadily from the Central Midlands League.  Firstly a quick catch up with the visitors manager Leon Sewell and then a nice welcome from Dronfield manager Craig Butler and the clubs secretary too.  I may have said before that although Dronfield normally seemed to have one over Clay Cross there was of course an admiration for Craig and his teams and as ever tonight contrary to the score line a tough side to take on, but a nice welcome always ensues.

GREETING TO 2 FORMER CMFL SIDES

While catching up with Ian tonight there was also referees assessor and former Alfreton player Matt Walsh to chat too and later on in the break Ian Cox also of the refereeing parish.  By the time we kicked of late there was a steady little crowd of around 50 in attendance which was pretty steady considering Sheffield FC were also at home in the town.

CROWD GETTING READY FOR THE BIG GAME

The first half started at a pace and at times threatened to overspill a little but the game just avoided any cautionary cards and it was Bebbington who gave Dronfield a lead after 35 minutes with his cross goal shot.
Westella were hot of the mark in replying with two goals in 3 minutes firstly on 40 minutes when Alex Wood headed home powerfully from an unmarked position and then Chris Spinks fired past home number 1 Kieran Marsh after Alex Wood had supplied the assist.

BACK OF THE NET

The second period saw the visitors soak up a fair amount of Dronfield pressure and on three occasions they broke with confidence to extend their lead.  On 58 minutes a break down the right saw Alex Coverdale slot home at the back post and it was the same player on 68 minutes who was put through and confidently slotted past the out coming Marsh.  The home defence was pulled out of position again on 74 minutes when Chris Spinks raced down the right to supply Joe McFadyen who fired home in the middle to make it 5-1 to the visitors.
A welcome victory by a large score line for Westella would send them home happy on a long mid week journey and for Dronfield the games are coming thick and fast and the character testing challenge of how the respond to this rather harsh score will soon be seen.
Nice night always great to catch up with these two clubs who are both settling down to life in The NCEFL and tonight put on an entertaining game for the neutral full of commitment.