A dominant display against Nostell Miners Welfare saw Dronfield Town take their third win on the bounce in comprehensive fashion. Five different Town players found the back of the net on an entertaining afternoon that saw the Derbyshire side break the forty point barrier in the Northern Counties East League Division One. Dronfield’s bid to break into the top half of the standings continues on Tuesday when they welcome Hall Road Rangers to the HE Barnes Stadium.
The opening quarter of an hour saw both sides feeling each other out and it was Nostell who created the first chance when Joe Wood stood the ball up from the right hand side allowing Reagan Waud’s header to go just wide of Lewis Naylor’s left hand post.
That was about as good as it got for the visitors as Dronfield came into their own. On 17 minutes, Callum Mawbey dispossessed his man 25 yards from goal, carried the ball forward and saw his left footed strike go narrowly past Nostell keeper Adam Greenwood’s far post.
Four minutes later, Greenwood saved well with his legs from Mark Fereday after creative work from Matty Ord but he was only delaying the inevitable as Dronfield took the lead just past the half hour mark.
Tom Gladwin’s delightful ball out of midfield was chased by Owen Lester, who got between a Nostell defender and the goalkeeper to poke the ball home and give Town a 1-0 advantage.
As the half drew to a close, Dronfield managed a double strike against the woodwork. From Connor Chapell’s left wing cross, Mark Fereday turned and thundered the ball against the crossbar and then, a minute from time, another super move saw Chapell once again feed the striker, whose shot on the turn hit the base of the post and away to safety.
It took eleven minutes after the interval for Dronfield to double their lead. Matty Ord’s nearside corner was delivered to the back post where it was met by Jake Hatton. Hatton’s header sailed over everyone, including Nostell stopper Greenwood to make it 2-0.
The game ended as a contest as Town got their third on 63 minutes. Callum Mawbey used his strength to beat his man down the right flank and cut inside on to his favoured left foot. Despite not connecting as cleanly as he would have liked, the ball still ended up in the back of the Nostell goal and made Dronfield 3-0 to the good.
Nostell almost found a way back in when Waud’s 25 yard free kick was palmed out of play by Dronfield custodian Lewis Naylor but a three minute spell from Town wrapped up a dominant victory.
On 73 minutes, Mark Fereday saw his cheeky backheel cleared off the line after good work from his brother Mike on the right hand side but he only had to wait a further minute to claim Dronfield’s fourth of the afternoon.
Fereday used his presence to outmuscle the final Nostell defender and tap into an empty net to leave the scoreline at 4-0.
Town wrapped up the win on 77 minutes when they got their fifth and final goal. Substitute Sam Terry made himself a nuisance, winning the ball and feeding Connor Chapell, who had the relatively simple task of firing home unchallenged to make it 5-0.
Dronfield once again used the end of the game to give experience to youngsters Isaac Knight and Lewis Furness but it was hard to remember a more comprehensive win in recent months, especially against a team only two places ahead of the Derbyshire side in the table.
The win takes Dronfield to 41 points for the season and now only seven points from the top ten. Eight games remain in the campaign for Town to achieve as high a finish as possible, beginning with the visit of eleventh placed Hall Road Rangers to the HE Barnes Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Mike Fereday, Stewart, Lester, Hill, Hatton, Chapell, Gladwin, Mawbey, Mark Fereday, Ord. Subs: Furness, Siddons, Knight, Flower, Terry.
Nostell MW: Greenwood, Gordon, Lalousis, Robertshaw, O’Neill, Smith, Wood, Mannings, Fialdini, Walker, Waud. Subs: Proctor, Nickinson, Hughes, Atkinson.
Attendance: 111
Photo: Michelle Bell
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