Dunston made the long mid-week trip to Nottinghamshire to face a much-fancied Worksop Town FC on their impressive new 3G Pitch at the Windsor Food Services Stadium. An early departure from Dunston saw the Team Coach arrive in Worksop with time to spare after a very uneventful journey. Some players were forced to travel by car when they were unable to get time off work for the scheduled 3.15pm leaving time but all arrived without mishap on the way.

Just as well, because Manager Chris Swailes had a severely depleted squad to select his team from with the unavailability of Club Captain Craig Scott and keeper Liam Connell and injuries to Jack Elliott, Scott Heslop and Luke Porritt. He was boosted by the return after suspension of the influential Phil Turnbull and return to fitness of forward Lee Mason. The ever-reliable Andy Clark replaced Liam Connell “between the sticks” and Luke Porritt, though not fully fit, took a place on the bench.

“The Tigers” were able to field a very strong line-up that included recent new signings Liam Hardy (top scorer from Northern Premier Division Hyde United) and Rob Guilfoyle (on loan from National League North Club Bradford Park Avenue).

Worksop Town opened the game on the front foot but it was a confident Dunston side who seized the initiative with a good counter-attack on only 3 minutes when some clever play by Liam Thear released Sado Djalo who made ground before sending in a good shot that was deflected for an early corner. Just four minutes later the Dunston centre-forward returned the favour when his clever flick almost put Thear clear on goal but the home defence managed to scramble away the danger. Worksop replied on 11 minutes when Sam Ackroyd cut inside from the left to create a chance but his 22-yard shot sailed high and wide of Andy Clark’s goal. More determined attacking from Dunston saw Lee Mason make room just outside the box for a right-foot shot that was straight at Worksop keeper Tiernan Brooks on 13 minutes and then Mason drew a much more difficult save from Brooks four minutes later as the visitors kept up the pressure. Worksop almost grabbed the lead in the 22nd minute when Liam Hardy was given the benefit of the doubt after a dubious challenge on a Dunston defender and he sprinted clear on goal but as he lined up his shot, Andy Clark came out and made a superb block to deny the burly forward. Dunston almost cashed in on their let-off three minutes later when link-up play between Michael Pearson and Sado Djalo sent in Jake Stafford but his dipping shot just cleared the Worksop bar. On 31 minutes Djalo almost broke the deadlock with a clever 30-yard snap-shot but Brooks made a fine save as the ball headed towards the top corner. Dunston continued to press and Lee Mason fired a shot past the angle on 34 minutes before Andy Clark was forced to make a good save to gather a James Baxendale effort at the foot of his post. As the game fluctuated from end-to-end at a terrific pace, it was only a matter of time before the stalemate was broken by one team or the other. On 37 minutes Dunston mounted a good attack on their left flank through Liam Thear who had switched wings. He cut inside and sent over a terrific right-foot cross to the back post where SadoDjalo looked a certain scorer but Jake Picton somehow deflected his effort for a corner. When Jake Stafford sent over his perfect delivery in the 38th minute, it reached the head of central defender Dan Capewell who made no mistake as he planted his header into the corner of the net. 0-1.

After this set-back, Worksop Town did their best to retaliate immediately and forced a corner of their own on 40 minutes but when James Baxendale sent over the flag-kick, Liam Hardy got on the end of it but couldn’t direct his header on target. Dunston went looking to add to their lead and in first-half stoppage time a brilliant flick-on from the head of Sado Djalo freed Liam Thear to go one-on-one with the last defender before clipping a shot that drew an excellent save from keeper Tiernan Brooks.

The second-half began in much the same manner as the first had ended with Dunston making the early running and on 47 minutes Thear was at it again when he jinked past two defenders as he cut in from the right before hammering a low shot that Brooks kept out at his near post. Just four minutes more had elapsed when the crucial second Dunston goal arrived in bizarre circumstances when a long Andy Clark clearance was lifted over the Worksop defence by Jake Stafford who then ran through the home defence to draw Brooks out of his goal. The Dunston player then lobbed the ball over the keeper towards goal and pursued the loose ball that was heading towards the net. He was clearly fouled by Worksop midfielder Jack Broadhead who then proceeded to scoop the ball away from the goal-line with his hand. The Referee had no choice but to show a red-card to Broadhead and award a penalty to Dunston. After delaying tactics by the goalkeeper, Terry Galbraith kept his concentration before stepping up to slam the spot-kick into the corner of the net despite Brooks getting a hand to the ball. 0-2.

The double blow of losing the key midfielder and also a second goal seemed to deflate the home side and Dunston were winning most of the challenges and creating several chances to extend their lead. On 61 minutes a brilliant exchange of passes between Sado Djalo and Liam Thear resulted in the former breaking through the home defence and when he strode through on goal it was no surprise that he sold a dummy to the keeper and stroked the ball into the left corner of the net. 0-3.

From the re-start Dunston went looking for more when Michael Pearson made a surging run on the left before sending over a wicked cross towards the head of Djalo but his bullet header grazed the outside of the post when he probably should have scored. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Worksop never gave up and were fighting hard to regain some pride in the match. On 68 minutes substitute Aaron Sennett-Neilsen made a great run on their right wing before cutting inside and smashing a low shot right across the Dunston goal. Three minutes later, a powerful run by Liam Thear took him past three Worksop defenders and his shot was bound for the top corner of the net before Brooks pulled of a brilliant save to tip over. Worksop were not finished and as Dunston took their foot off the gas, they forced three corners in quick succession but were unable to add the finishing touch. In the 80th minute the home side came very close to pulling a goal back when Sennett-Neilsen sent in a scorching low shot that was brilliantly deflected away by Andy Clark and from the resulting corner fellow substitute Ben Tomlinson was desperately unlucky to see his 18-yard shot strike a post before bouncing to safety.

Final Score:  Worksop Town FC  0    Dunston UTS FC  3 

MotM:  DAN CAPEWELL

Dan Capewell is kindly sponsored by:

Home shirt - Jimmy Souley

Away shirt - Billy Irwin Painter and Decorator

3rd shirt -Dunston UTS FC Supporters Club - Youth Section.

Training kit - Christina Shell.

Match report by Billy Montague.