Dunston secured a third consecutive win after a convincing and professional 2-0 win against Ossett United at The UTS Stadium.

Dale Pearson opened the scoring in the 39th minute, dispatching a penalty past Darryl Ombang. Jack Maskell then rounded off an enjoyable afternoon in second half stoppage time, sealing all three points.

In our first home game in nine weeks, and our first fixture since Winterton three weeks ago, Jon McDonald made one change to the starting line-up. Josh King returned after a recent injury, replacing Jordan Lamb.

Skipper Michael Pearson returned to the midfield, with Richard Coulson lining up in the front three.

Dunston made a very bright start on a heavy surface and almost took the lead on two minutes. Jack Maskell played a low cross into the feet on Richard Coulson who couldn’t quite make contact with the ball.

Down the other end, on eight minutes, Dan Staples spilled the ball inside his penalty area. Ossett almost capitalised however, a huge block from Jack Walker denied Swales, keeping the score level.

Dunston responded well in their search for the opener. Some neat football from Chris McDonald and man of the match Phil Turnbull resulted in a chance for Dale Pearson, who fired his effort wide.

Minutes later, it was once again Coulson’s turn to come close as his close-range effort was saved by Ombang, after some excellent play from Maskell.

Dunston continued in bright fashion, with Maskell curling a long-range effort inches over the bar. Dale Pearson also had the ball in the net, but the flag was raised for an offside.

In the closing stages of the half, David Robinson jived his way into the box and was clipped by Patrick Miller and the penalty was awarded to Dunston.

This season’s top scorer, Dale Pearson, stepped up and slotted his penalty straight down the middle, giving us the lead heading into the half-time interval. Goal number eleven of the season for Pearson.

Dunston continued in the same manner in the opening stages of the second half. Darryl Ombang once again producing the goods for the visitors as he denied Coulson with an excellent diving save.

Just after the hour-mark, Dunston had to withstand a spell of pressure from the visitors as Dan Staples was called into action for the first time. Kelan Swales found himself one-on-one with Staples, but the shot-stopper spread himself and kept out the effort.

Minutes later, Ossett right-back Derry Robson drilled an effort over the crossbar from outside the box.

Jordan Lamb was introduced midway through the half in place of Richard Coulson, and Lamb immediately caused problems down the righthand side with his pace.

Into the final ten minutes of game and the visitors began to throw more bodies forwards, leaving them more exposed at the back, leading to multiple chances for Dunston to see off the game.

A golden chance came on 83 minutes when Dale Pearson did excellently down the left, played the ball to the feet of Maskell, but latter’s effort was smothered by the onrushing Ombang between the Ossett sticks.

Minutes later, a similar opportunity arose for Maskell, but again Ombang was there to make the save and keep his side in it. Pearson also came close in the 89th minute when he fizzed an effort towards goal which just zipped past the post.

The all-important second goal finally came in second half stoppage time when Jack Maskell bagged his eighth goal of the season. With multiple Ossett bodies committed upfront, Maskell found himself with so much time and space to wrap the game up with a tidy finish right at the death.

The win sees Dunston remain in 8th place in the Pitching In Northern Premier League East table, but just three points off the play-offs with games in hand.

By Callum Pattison

Image Credit - Beauty Time Photography