Dronfield Town B 1 Stoney Middleton 1

Stoney gained a valuable away point after a courageous display in this top of the table clash in the B Division.
 

The visitors dominated the early exchanges and scored after five minutes when Brassington and Scott linked well to set up Steve Fox who showed remarkable skill as he brought the ball down out of the air, turned his man and finished with a touch of class.  Dronfield now came back into the game and dominated possession for long periods in the first half.  Town were a particular threat down the wings and Stoney fullbacks Cook and Fairey had to make several well timed tackles.  However Stoney's counter-attacking play was neat and swift providing Ryan Hodgkinson with a chance at the back post which he cannoned into the side netting.
 

Dronfield pushed hard early in the second half and the Quarrymen had to batten down the hatches with Shaw and Townsend busy at centre half. Eric Bite in goal was also on top form making a procession of acrobatic saves.  However as the half wore on Stoney's fitness began to show with Ridgeway and Hodgkinson tackling hard and giving no quarter as the visitors gained the upper hand.  Stoney now forced a string of corners and a bullet header from Dan Hodgkinson was skilfully saved by the Dronfield keeper.  It was stirring stuff at the end as Stoney endeavoured to wrestle all three points from their hosts with Sheldon and Fox also going close to getting a late winner in a frantic finish.  Stoney were also held at bay by several extremely close off side decisions as the linesman waved his flag with a vigour rarely seen outside of the Last Night of the Proms.
 

Man of the match for Stoney was given to Jason Brassington for his powerful performance.