Dronfield Town gave leaders Wakefield AFC an almighty fright but sadly ended up pointless in another entertaining fixture at the HE Barnes Stadium. Without a game for two weeks, Town took the lead through a Max Rhodes penalty but saw the visitors equalise through Jaydan Sandhu on the stroke of half time. Mason Rubie and Oliver Clarke put Wakefield into the lead in the second half before Oli Townsend ensured a nervy finish with a thrilling strike from distance. Dronfield fall one place in the table to eighth as a result ahead of a pre-Christmas encounter with Yorkshire Amateur at home next Saturday.
Dronfield began with purpose against the side from Belle Vue. An early Callum Mawbey ball into the box caused bother in the Wakefield defence and moments after, Jake Hatton’s free header from a Town free kick went wide of the mark.
The fifteen minute mark saw a delicious long ball forward by Charlie Stewart, which found Max Rhodes, whose first-time hit narrowly went wide of the net.
Wakefield’s influential midfielder Jaydan Sandhu came up with their best chance two minutes later. He burst through midfield and brought out a brave save from Lewis Naylor, blocking Sandhu’s shot with his legs.
Dronfield upset the form book by taking the lead in the 21st minute. The referee adjudged that Owen Lester had been tripped in the box and pointed to the spot. Max Rhodes placed the kick low to George Bristol’s right for his 16th goal of the campaign and to give Town a 1-0 lead.
A flurry of yellow cards marked a low point of the encounter. Sandhu was first into the book for not getting his distance at a Dronfield free kick to be quickly followed by Dronfield’s Arran Bovill for a seemingly innocuous challenge. The yellow given to Owen Lester was the most contentious, given that the Dronfield midfielder appeared to have cleanly won the ball.
The referee made his presence felt once more on 36 minutes when he awarded the visitors a spot kick. Oliver Green went down in the Town penalty area and stepped up to take his own kick. Dronfield stopper and skipper Lewis Naylor added another to his burgeoning list of shut-outs by saving Green’s effort to his left hand side.
Wakefield did pull level however on the stroke of half time. Sandhu was on hand to stab home from 6 yards to make it 1-1. The litany of cards continued as Dronfield boss Chris Millington picked up a caution for his troubles as the sides went in at half time tied.
Buoyed by their way back into the encounter, Wakefield began the second half with attempts from Rubie and Green. Dronfield’s spirited play continued as well too however, a crunching tackle by Mike Fereday being typical of their endeavours.
The 62nd minute was marked by a neat interchange of passes between Callum Mawbey and Charlie Stewart, whose cross from the left was headed over by James Lindores.
Wakefield introduced substitutes Cameron Barnett and Oliver Clarke into the contest and there was a marked upturn in the West Yorkshire side’s fortunes.
They took the lead in the 71st minute. A pinpoint cross-field ball to the right found Rubie, who controlled the ball well and rifled past Naylor to make it 1-2.
Wakefield got their third on 85 minutes. With Dronfield expecting a foul to be blown, Oliver Clarke took full advantage to force the ball home and give the visitors a seemingly unassailable lead.
Town still had a final roll of the dice. Substitute Oli Townsend gathered the ball and moved forward before unleashing a skiddy 25 yard drive that nestled in the back of the net to make it 2-3.
However, the six minutes of added time didn’t bring about the equaliser that their endeavours had probably deserved as the points headed back up the M1.
Dronfield get an almost immediate chance at redemption as they return to the HE Barnes Stadium on Saturday 23rd December. Yorkshire Amateur are the visitors to S18 and the game has been designated free entry to all spectators.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Fereday, Stewart, Lester, Hatton, Riley, Chapell, Bovill, Rhodes, Lindores, Mawbey. Subs: Knight, Siddons, Thorpe, Townsend, Benson.
Wakefield AFC: Bristol, Pilkington, Charlton, Sandhu, Durkin, Holmes, Green, Youel, Gelder, Losa, Rubie. Subs: Green, Kendrick, Clarke, Barnett, Busfield.
Attendance: 130
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