DRONFIELD MISS OUT AS LILL INSPIRES VISITORS

DRONFIELD TOWN 1 SWALLOWNEST 2
NCEFL 1 @ STONELOW RD HE BARNES STADIUM
19 JANUARY 2019 --- 3PM

DRONFIELD TOWN FC MAIN STAND

In a tough uncompromising local derby it was Swallownest who came back from a goal down at the interval with the help of shining light Alex Lill, pace and no little skill saw him put away a quality equaliser before playing a big hand in the winner from Oliver Grady.
Midweek had seen a quick hop to South Normanton v Dunkirk a bsement battle in The MFL and with a 94th winner its was the visitors who gained bragging rights and a valuable three points denying the home side the chance to open up the gap.  The evening was spent in the company of Dave the Burnley fan and as ever he did not pose for the picture and was completely oblivious to the camera.

PENSIVE BURNLEY FAN THINKING ABOUT HOW THE SEASON WILL UNFOLD AT TURF MOOR

For a variety of reasons today would be a local game and with additional snow in certain areas a welcome Saturday revisit to Dronfield Town was selected thanks to the prompt reply of club official Mike Payne and with a picture tweeted all looked good to go.  Dronfield has been blogged a few
times but its rare I get to visit on a Saturday and it is always difficult to do the detailed descriptor on your local clubs and especially ones visited before.  However it is always a warm welcome at Stonelow and from the days of competition with them in their CMFL days its a pleasure to pop along to see how they are doing, once again today the picture taking was poor on a very dark and murky day.

THE GREAT FENCE OF DRONFIELD

The frustration of train travel would be denied me today with the continuing Northern Rail strike putting Dronfield station out of bounds it would be a bus into base town and connection out to Dronfield on a '44' joy of joys seats available, no screaming kids and a journey that was on time, maybe I should do Dronfield every week.
Passing through Sheepbridge one of the quirky business, now closed, is Nationwide Boat Sales in an area as far away from the sea that's possible and not near to water faring vessel territory, I remember a friend from Staffordshire buying a craft from here to be taken by road to his chosen bit of wet stuff.  Arriving in Dronfield a town that has expanded beyond all recognition and now more or less merges into Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston there is a feel of just houses.  But deep within this town, that is pretty equidistant between Sheffield and Chesterfield, is a modern shopping centre with some impressive historical buildings and although the expansion has been large many of the outlying areas have their own little precincts much like Stonelow Road.  Since the reopening of its station it has made Drofnield Town very accessible, normally, for hoppers and although Sheffield FC play just along the road Town are the only club to bear its name in senior non league football including its reserve side in The CMFL.

THE CLASSIC VIEW

Having planned on an early arrival disaster struck when The Jolly Friar tuck[ed]! away in Egerton Rd was shut, apparently an electrical fault/fire sees the emporium closed for the near future.  A slow walk to the ground still found me arriving with players and officials but thankfully the jolly gateman and club officials were there to greet sad hoppers who miss time their day!  Admission paid and
functional programme gained a brief photo opportunity was undertaken and here is a quick descriptor.

NEW STAND AT DRONFIELD WITH EXECUTIVE SEAT

Turning down the slope to the left on your immediate right is the stand with three blocks of seats the hard standing continues around the far goal but the far side where the dug outs are based is still an out of bounds area.  Back to the start point with hard standing continuing around to the other end the great wall [fence] of Dronfield remains in fact local star gazers say this structure is so big it can be seen from the moon!  Installed at the request of the neighbours it really is a site to behold and now the club have ingeniously added a shelf covered standing terrace by adding a narrow strip of roof to a few scaffold poles which I guess meets ground grading requirements, weirdly there is one tip up seat at the end nearest the goal.  Ball boy or executive stand you decide.

CHRIS MILLINGTON [RIGHT] PRE MATCH MANAGERS CHAT

With over an hour to go there was time to chat with quite a few officials who are always friendly and welcoming for a club with many teams attached to it they should sometimes get better support from their fellow club members but crowds are rising as Chris Millington moves the club on the field to the next stage.  As they sit more towards the top of the table after establishing themselves over a few years in The NCEFL there is time in the snack bar while partaking of a chip cob and sample of the warm stuff to view the framed collection of former glories. 
The clubs base sits below the cricket club whose pavilion and pitch is up a bank and above the main football ground which also has minor pitches and an additional cricket ground within its boundaries.
The game would see two probably unfashionable teams in good current form take one another on with the added spice of a 'derby' fixture added.  It would be Swallownest in the terms of early possession but when the home side got a foothold in the game it was they who broke the deadlock on the half hour mark Callum Mawbey flicked on a long throw and Mike Fereday fired back across the keeper into the bottom right hand corner for 1-0.

FIRST HALF ACTION WITH DRONFIELD IN POSESSION

The second period saw Swallownest start on the front foot and it was no surprise when they equalised on 58 minutes Morritt fed Lill who tormented his defender finally pacing past him and firing a
beautiful finish beyond the despairing dive of Lewis Naylor in the Dronfield goal.  As the game entered the final twenty minutes there was a raising of temperatures whereby frustrations came to the fore but newly promoted level four referee Stacey Hall handled the couple of situations well and the appropriate card usage kept things in check.

REFEREE STACEY HALL LINES UP THE FREE KICK

The flow of the game was all with the visitors now and you could see the winner coming even though it took until three minutes from time it was a reverse supply of first Lill who got a shot in that Naylor pushed away well but Grady was on hand to fire home the goal that would secure three points for Swallownest.
Always seems strange watching locally but a pleasure to visit Dronfield Town as ever a local team trying their best to do it the right way and offering a friendly welcome to all visitors.