There was a controversial ending to Dronfield Town’s penultimate home fixture of the season as they went down by 3-2 against sixth placed Wombwell Town. The North Derbyshire side were leading by 2-1 going into the last five minutes when defender Callum Riley was sinbinned and manager Chris Millington picked up a yellow card. The visitors gained a scrambled equaliser as the 90 minutes ticked by and then got a game winning free kick from Owen Sykes deep into added time. Dronfield boss Millington was sent from the field for a second yellow and with substitute Mike Fereday also sinbinned, the astonishing turn of events saw the three points going back to the South Yorkshire outfit. Dronfield play their final home game against Staveley Miners Welfare on Tuesday before rounding off their campaign next Saturday at Louth.
Aside from the ludicrous scenes that played out in the final five minutes, an excellent game between two evenly-matched teams was served up for the crowd at the HE Barnes Stadium. Wombwell, still with a mathematical chance of making the playoffs, showed earliest – Lewis Naylor saving from Rikki Paylor’s sidefooted effort after only 3 minutes.
Dronfield had another let-off on the 11 minute mark. Owen Lester’s clearance rebounded off Callum Mawbey and on to the post before being gratefully claimed by Naylor.
Lester made amends with two useful attempts as the half wore on. His 25 yard wind-assisted strike was gathered at the second attempt by Jonathan Davis in the Wombwell goal and on 20 minutes, the midfielder brought the ball down well but saw his shot just skip wide of the mark.
Dronfield were punished on the half hour mark as Wombwell took the lead. A mistake in defence allowed Jordan Kershaw to take the ball on and hammer it into the net from 12 yards out to make it 1-0 to the South Yorkshire side.
Dronfield almost levelled on the stroke of half time. A right footed curling attempt from James Lindores narrowly missed the mark as the visitors went in a goal to the good.
A change in formation almost paid immediate dividends for Dronfield as the second half got underway. Kenan McKenzie-Grey, switched to a right hand side berth, was involved in a move that saw Town’s leading scorer Max Rhodes shoot straight at Davis in the Wombwell goal.
Dronfield’s pressure continued to tell and on 54 minutes they got back on level terms. Out of Connor Chapell’s farside corner, Max Rhodes teed up the ball and then overhead kicked it home to make it 1-1.
Two minutes later, Dronfield took the lead. McKenzie-Grey’s right flank delivery was brought down and fired home by Rhodes for his 30th goal of the campaign, giving the North Derbyshire side a 2-1 advantage.
Both sides continued to play their part in an excellent advert for the division and on 70 minutes, it took an outstanding one-handed save by Lewis Naylor to keep Dronfield in front as Rhys Plater found himself clean through for Wombwell.
An astonishing series of events saw Wombwell score twice in the dying minutes and take all three points. What appeared to be an incorrect throw-in decision resulted in Dronfield defender Callum Riley being sinbinned in the 86th minute. Dronfield manager Chris Millington also received a yellow card shortly after and from the set piece, Wombwell managed to put the ball in the back of the net only for the assistant referee to rule it out for offside.
Wombwell’s equaliser came as the clock ticked round to full time. Pressure from substitute Edward Agnew saw Dronfield’s Mike Fereday put through his own goal in the melee to make it 2-2.
Two minutes into added time, Dronfield’s ten men conceded their third. Owen Sykes’ well-struck free kick from the edge of the box hit the back of the net with some force to make it 3-2 to the visitors.
In a bizarre turn of events, Dronfield boss Millington received a second yellow card and was ordered from the field and substitute Mike Fereday was also sent to the sinbin. Dronfield’s nine men were unable to force a result in the remaining added time as the points went with Wombwell.
A game that looked like being settled on the field through the endeavours of two evenly-matched teams saw a farcical end that bore no relation to the excellent 85 minutes that had preceded it.
Dronfield remain in 9th place despite the result. They welcome Staveley Miners Welfare, in 10th and a point behind Town, to the HE Barnes Stadium on Tuesday before wrapping up their fine season on the road at Louth Town on Saturday.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Bebbington, Riley, Lester, Mawbey, Wright, Chapell, Knight, Rhodes, Lindores, McKenzie-Grey. Subs: Fereday, Stewart, Benson, Rooke, Gladwin.
Wombwell Town: Davis, Paling, Nelthorpe, Youel, Paylor, Egan, Kiwanuka, Lindley, Wood, Kershaw, Plater. Subs: Sykes, McDermott, Agnew, Tonge.
Attendance: 135