Staveley Miners Welfare took the derby day spoils over Dronfield Town in a whole-hearted encounter where both sides fully played their part. Eight miles and five places separated the two teams prior to kick off but it was Staveley who took the lead late in the first half after long spells of pressure from the hosts. A contender for goal of the season from Dronfield’s Nick Benson levelled the contest after an hour but two set pieces from Staveley secured all three points for the side from Inkersall Road. Staveley climb to fourth in the Northern Counties East League Division One as a result with Dronfield falling one place to eleventh ahead of a midweek trip to Retford FC.
Dronfield came into the game with just one competitive match under their belt since New Years Eve and as such had played out a 2-2 friendly with Central Midlands League challengers Thorne Colliery on Tuesday.
With the rust shaken off, Town took the game to playoff-chasing Staveley. Dronfield found a useful tactic of gaining territory up the right flank; Sam Bebbington’s long throws aiming for leading scorer Callum Mawbey, whose aerial threat caused trouble in amongst the Staveley defence.
One of Dronfield’s better efforts came from Joe Pearson, whose strike was deflected past the post and out for a corner.
Both sides gave everything in the challenge but Dronfield’s Sam Bebbington went a little too far on Josh Pickering and picked up a yellow card for his trouble.
The deadlock was broken on 41 minutes. Dronfield’s defence had handled the lively Staveley duo of Freddy Tracey and Max Rhodes well to that point but it was Rhodes who beat the offside trap to get free on the right hand side. His ball across saw Dronfield wrong footed as a stooping header at the back post by Josh Pickering gave the visitors the lead.
Dronfield came out with a similar positive attitude at the start of the second half as a thoroughly entertaining and committed derby ensued. A change on the hour mark saw Dronfield U21 striker Nick Benson introduced into the game and he was to have an almost immediate astonishing impact. Cutting in from the right wing, he unleashed a left foot shot from fully 30 yards that sailed past Staveley keeper Addison Bliss and into the top corner of the net to make it 1-1.
The leveller buoyed Town and they almost took the lead soon after. A delivery in from the right was met by the header of Mawbey and with the ball looking goalbound, Bliss pulled off an excellent save to his left.
Two set piece plays proved to be Dronfield’s undoing. On 69 minutes, a free kick from the right saw the Town defence rendered somewhat static with Staveley centre half Jack Allerton being the quickest to pounce and restore his side’s lead at 1-2.
Dronfield suffered another hammer blow two minutes later when Staveley made it three. Another free kick from the right was met by a header from Staveley substitute Marley Grant with the ball rebounding off the back of the unfortunate Lewis Naylor in the Dronfield net and over the line to make it 1-3.
To Dronfield’s credit, they rang the changes and never gave up trying to get back into the contest. However, the quick two goal salvo proved a major confidence boost to the visitors who continued to threaten through Tracey, who saw an effort skim off the top of the bar and narrowly out of play.
The win sees Staveley cement themselves in the playoff positions in fourth in the table. Dronfield, despite falling to eleventh in the league, can take great heart from the spirit of the performance that should see them in good stead for visits to Retford FC and Selby Town in the coming week.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Bebbington, Gladwin, Lester, Wright, Riley, Rooke, Mawbey, Fereday, Adams, Pearson. Subs: Hatton, Flower, Benson, Crowe, Bovill.
Staveley MW: Bliss, Greaves, Claxton, Kay, Allerton, Hooper, Ross, Wraith, Tracey, Rhodes, Pickering. Subs: Grant, Michell, Jasper, Lindley, Wilson.
Attendance: 128
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