They pushed the league leaders all the way but Dronfield Town lost out by the odd goal in five at home to Horbury Town. A Sam Bebbington penalty opened the scoring for the North Derbyshire side but Horbury managed to take a half time lead through Luke Playford and Sam Kyeremeh. Callum Mawbey’s header put the teams back on level terms but Dronfield allowed Kyeremeh too much time in the box as he claimed the winner. The effort and application from Dronfield was abundant for a crowd of 194 to see and despite the defeat, they have a platform to take into their next match against Ilkley Town in a week’s time.
There was a stiff breeze to go with the autumnal conditions at the HE Barnes Stadium and Horbury were the first to exploit it. Leading scorer James Cusworth attempted a chip from some distance but the wind took the ball out of play by some margin.
The same player had a gilt-edged chance on 11 minutes. A testing cross from Billy Mole found Cusworth in the 6 yard box but his header sailed over the bar.
Dronfield weathered the early pressure and got on the score sheet first. A Connor Chapell corner led to a scramble in the box that saw Sam Bebbington pushed to the floor. The utility man dusted himself off and blasted the spot kick down the middle of the goal to make it 1-0.
Horbury were unbeaten in the previous nine league games and have only lost once all season. Their obvious quality showed on 26 minutes when Luke Playford’s delivery from the left was steered goalwards by Cusworth, only for returning Dronfield stopper Lewis Naylor to make a fine smothering save.
Horbury did get on level terms on 33 minutes however. Gibril Bojang’s neat cross from the right found a largely unchallenged Playford, who headed home to make it 1-1.
With momentum growing, Horbury claimed their second 3 minutes before half time. A long ball forward was latched on to by Sam Kyeremeh, who controlled well and finished with equal confidence to see his side a goal to the good at the break.
The game remained equally competitive after the interval. The 52 minute mark saw Callum Mawbey stab the ball in the direction of the goal from a Chapell corner, only for Horbury keeper Paul Hagreen to claim his attempt.
It was end-to-end stuff by this point and just a minute later, Mole broke free for Horbury, only to see Lewis Naylor making a point blank stop, pushing the ball away to his right hand side.
Dronfield’s pressure resulted in two quick corners as Hagreen received a yellow card for kicking the ball away in frustration.
On 64 minutes, they did get manage to draw level once again. A Chapell corner on the far side was back-headed with some degree of skill into the bottom corner of the net by Callum Mawbey.
Parity only lasted seven minutes however as Horbury got what was to be their eventual winner. Dronfield’s inability to clear their lines told on them as Kyeremeh collected the ball and seemed to have an eternity to pick his spot and fire home to make it 2-3.
Dronfield threw the kitchen sink at the end of the game in a bid to rescue something from the match as even Naylor made his way upfield for a corner that saw Horbury come away with the ball. Dronfield escaped despite leaving their goal unmanned as Horbury chose to run down the clock instead of shooting, before claiming their 13th win of the season.
Dronfield must take some small satisfaction that they ran the leaders so close in a display of great heart. A solitary point from their October fixtures so far hasn’t really reflected the entirety of their performances and they will be hoping for a climb up the table soon, starting on the road at sixth-placed Ilkley Town next weekend.
Dronfield Town: Naylor, Riley, Gladwin, Lester, Mawbey, Hobson, Chapell, Knight, Rhodes, Bebbington, Ord. Subs: Pearson, Noble, Thorpe M, Bovill, Wright.
Horbury Town: Hagreen, Swain, Playford, Curran, Travis, Angell, Bojang, Feirn, Cusworth, Kyeremeh, Mole. Subs: Barnes, Spencer, Schofield, Smith, Leach.
Attendance: 194
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