Dronfield Town made it eight unbeaten after coming from two goals down to draw with Retford FC. Both sides played their part in a scintillating game of football. Retford claimed a 2-0 lead through Liam Frost and Matthew Thompson but after a 20 minute stoppage for a serious injury to Dronfield’s Regan Rooke, James Lindores and Dan White ensured a point for Town. Dronfield and Retford fall one place to tenth and eleventh in the Northern Counties East League Division One table as a result with the Derbyshire side looking to a visit to Glasshoughton Welfare as their next fixture.
The game began inauspiciously for Dronfield. The referee judged that Regan Rooke had handled in the box on 7 minutes. Liam Frost saw his spot kick well saved to Lewis Naylor’s right hand side as the home side breathed a sigh of relief.
The game was played at a furious pace with both sides putting on a show for a small but appreciative crowd. Town’s best efforts saw Lindores stab the ball wide at the back post from a Charlie Stewart free kick on the left and the young striker did well to cut inside his man, but fired past the far post just after the half hour mark.
Despite a solid spell of Dronfield pressure, it was the visitors who took the lead on 39 minutes. Frost bundled the ball home from close range with his head after a right wing cross. Dronfield protested that the ball had left play earlier in the build up and as well as going a goal down, Tom Staniland was sin-binned to boot.
The second half didn’t exactly begin in desired fashion for Town either. Matthew Thompson doubled Retford’s lead with a comfortable strike, leading Dronfield keeper and skipper Lewis Naylor to launch a verbal volley at his defence.
A serious-looking injury to Dronfield’s Regan Rooke saw the midfielder eventually stretchered off as the game was delayed for fully 20 minutes.
Cam Knight was his replacement and it only took 5 minutes after the restart for Town to pull one back. An excellent ball out of defence by Sam Bebbington found James Lindores with pinpoint accuracy. The striker rounded Jake Sykes in the Retford goal to make it 1-2.
The Dronfield bandwagon went into overdrive and on 62 minutes, they got a deserved equaliser. Charlie Stewart’s free kick from the left was met by the head of Dan White to level matters at 2-2.
As the home side’s confidence grew, Staniland’s long pass forward found Max Rhodes, whose shot went narrowly wide after he outpaced the Retford defence.
Central defender Dan White was also a thorn in the Retford side whenever he went up for a set piece. His header was deflected out of play for a corner as he threatened on 68 minutes and with 8 minutes left in the game, his glancing effort only just failed to hit the target.
Town had an escape in the dying minutes. Charlie Stewart put in an outstanding challenge on Jack Johnson, who looked certain to convert and out of the resulting corner, Lewis Naylor pulled off an equally breathtaking stop from the head of the burly Will Tomlinson.
The point sees Dronfield go eight games unbeaten in all competitions but they unfortunately drop one place in the table to tenth. Their confidence is however clear for all to see and they will relish a visit to West Yorkshire to take on 17th placed Glasshoughton Welfare on Saturday.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Riley, Staniland, Stewart, Bovill, White, Rooke, Mawbey, Rhodes, Bebbington, Lindores. Subs: Townsend, Knight, Lester, Hill.
Retford FC: Sykes, Marsden, Lobley, Wankiewicz, Thompson, Bennent, McKenzie-Grey, Lumley, Frost, Sennett-Nielson, Johnson. Subs: Rodgers, Tomlinson, Severn, Casburn, Wonham.
Attendance: 87
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