Dronfield Town claimed a vital win over bottom side Yorkshire Amateur in a game that was packed with incident. Town survived the 15th minute sending-off of Matty Ord to claim a 35th minute lead through Sam Bebbington. Yorkshire Amateur were reduced to 10 men themselves when Madamadou Cessay was given his marching orders, quickly followed by Manager Mark Pitts, who protested the decision. Town got a second from the head of Bebbington but the Ammers pulled one back through Harry Abson. Max Rhodes’ 19th of the season wrapped up the win that took Dronfield up to 18th in the table as Yorkshire Amateur’s Jack Atkinson left the game in the latter stages for his second yellow card. Dronfield welcome 15th placed Shelley FC to the HE Barnes Stadium on Tuesday evening as their quest to escape the lower reaches of the table continues.
Dronfield set off impressively in the ‘must-win’ encounter. Experienced midfielder Connor Chapell saw his goalbound 25 yard strike palmed away in the 4th minute by Ammers keeper Fabio Intumbo and away to safety.
At the other end of the pitch, Town full back James Thorpe made a timely intervention to prevent Danilo Mosollo getting a strike off on goal but a minute later, the game took an unexpected turn.
The quarter of an hour mark saw Matty Ord given a straight red card with possibly only the match referee being certain of the offence committed, later confirmed to be a head butt.
Dronfield’s ten men regrouped however and continued to take the game to their visitors. A free kick in the 33rd minute by Chapell saw the ball fall back to the midfield general but his 18 yard hit went wide on the follow-up.
Town did take the lead in the 35th minute. Skipper and keeper Lewis Naylor took a free kick from his own half that a charging Intumbo failed to claim. With the ball headed into the net, Sam Bebbington got the final touch on the line to make it 1-0.
It was almost 2-0 five minutes from the break. Chapell’s inswinging free kick from out on the right flank was headed off the line by Theju Kongolo as the last effort of a lively first 45 minutes.
The game a further twist 6 minutes after the resumption. A tussle in the middle of the pitch saw Yorkshire Amateur’s Madamadou Cessay holding down Dronfield’s Owen Lester. A consultation between all the match officials saw Cessay heading to the changing rooms, quickly followed by his manager Mark Pitts, who got his marching orders in the resulting protests.
Back on level terms personnel-wise, Dronfield got their second goal on 62 minutes. A lightning run down the right wing by Max Rhodes was followed by an equally-impressive pinpoint cross. Rhodes’ strike partner Sam Bebbington headed the ball home amid scenes of jubilation from the Town support with the score at 2-0.
The Ammers pulled one back on 67 minutes. Dronfield failed to absorb a period of pressure from the visitors and a ball from the right found Harry Abson at the back post, who drove the ball home to put his side back in with a chance.
The game could have gone either way at this point as Arran Bovill’s neat sidefoot led to Sam Bebbington hitting the side-netting from close range and with nine minutes to go, Yorkshire Amateur’s Jake Boyd headed on to the post in a let-off for Town.
Dronfield sealed the crucial win with their third on 83 minutes. Town broke through Owen Lester, who fed Bebbington in the right channel. Bebbington looked to have under-hit his pass inside but an exquisite first time strike from Max Rhodes hit the back of the net to confirm all three points.
The Ammers’ Jack Atkinson picked up a second yellow card four minutes from time to reduce the Leeds-based side to 9 men in the latter stages but it was undeniably Dronfield’s day with a vital victory.
Dronfield climb to 18th place in the NCEL Division One table as a result on an afternoon when rivals Appleby Frodingham, Louth Town and Swallownest all picked up wins. Next up for Town is the visit of Huddersfield-based Shelley FC, who currently sit seven points ahead of Chris Millington’s side in 15th, on Tuesday evening.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Thorpe J, Stewart, Lester, Gladwin, Wright, Chapell, Bovill, Rhodes, Bebbington, Ord. Subs: Lindores, Pearson, Appleyard, Riley, Thorpe M.
Yorkshire Amateur: Intumbo, Kongolo, Kalonji-Bamba, Sidibe, Atkinson, Boyd, Smith, Cessay, Mosollo, Abson, Busfield. Subs: Tomas, Emovon, Tesfagerish, Edjangue.
Attendance: 63
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