Dronfield Town lost out to Retford FC by the odd goal in five as their search for points continued. Town led by 2-1 at half time thanks to strikes from Joe Pearson and an outstanding overhead kick from Henry Adams. Unfortunately, defensive frailties cost them in the second half as the hosts ran in two further goals to secure the win. The North Derbyshire side now travel to the outfit that climbed above them in the table on the evening – Selby Town.
The game couldn’t have begun in better fashion for Dronfield. With only 5 minutes on the clock, Joe Pearson cut inside from the left flank and his low shot from 20 yards out skipped across the surface and just inside Retford stopper Jon Kennedy’s right hand post.
Confidence remained high in the Town camp after taking the lead with a pair of threatening corners but the momentum dissipated when Henry Adams went down injured.
Retford began to come into the game on 16 minutes when Liam Frost beat the offside trap and shot past the post from 12 yards out. However, they got back on level terms just 3 minutes later.
Jack Johnson burst into the area and played the ball inside to Frost, who finished from 6 yards out with the Dronfield players protesting an offside claim.
Dronfield keeper Lewis Naylor came to his side’s rescue on 25 minutes when he pulled off a terrific save from Alex Wonham and then tipped a testing follow up from Johnson over the bar.
Joe Pearson’s low left wing cross zipped across the goalface on the 35 minute mark with no Dronfield player able to make contact. Town’s Mark Fereday collected an injury in the sortie forward and was replaced by Matt Crowe from the subs bench.
Kyle Simpson’s testing ball from the left was headed wide by Will Tomlinson after 40 minutes when the burly striker really should have hit the target but it was Dronfield, who went in a goal to the good after an outstanding piece of individual skill.
Four minutes into added time at the end of the first half, a Henry Adams overhead kick from the edge of the box sailed into the net past the outstretched Kennedy to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
Dronfield continued to go on the front foot as the second half got underway. Callum Riley’s useful cross from the right again found no Town attackers on the end and on 55 minutes, Jake Hatton’s turn and shot in the area was pushed away to his left by Kennedy.
Retford got back on level terms on 63 minutes. Dronfield’s Billy Wright earned a yellow card as he brought down Johnson on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick was not cleared by Town, allowing Tomlinson to force the ball home and make it 2-2.
The Retford substitutes George White and Oli Lobley, continued to drive their side forward with renewed vigour and on 74 minutes, they got the goal that would give them all three points. A long ball forward to Simpson was fed inside to Frost, who finished low to Naylor’s right to give Retford the lead.
A niggly ending to the game on the part of both sides saw Liam Bennett for Retford and Owen Lester go into the book and despite Dronfield making a last throw of the dice by introducing James Lindores and Cam Knight, they couldn’t force an equaliser.
Dronfield again showed that they are competitive but need to cut out the lapses that have featured in their current barren run. An ideal time to break the trend would be on Saturday when they travel to Selby Town, who leaped above them to 10th in the Northern Counties East League Division One table by virtue of a 2-1 win at home to Parkgate.
Retford FC: Kennedy, Loftus, Goddard, Severn, Scott, Bennett, Simpson, Wonham, Tomlinson, Frost, Johnson. Subs: Rodgers, Lee, Ward, White, Lobley.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Riley, Stewart, Lester, Wright, Hatton, Gladwin, Mawbey, Fereday, Pearson, Adams. Subs: Crowe, Siddons, Lindores, Knight C.
Attendance: 80
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