Dunston climbed back up to third in the Northern Premier League East Division after a 1-1 draw away at Grantham. 

Manager Jon McDonald hailed his sides’ effort post-match by saying: “In terms of effort, we couldn’t have asked for much more from the lads tonight.”

Craig Baxter had initially fired Dunston into the lead after the hour-mark scoring his first goal for the club this season after a quickly taken corner.

However, with just over ten minutes to go, Grantham’s Louis Nicholson levelled the game after a clinical counterattacking move.

There were a couple of changes to the side that lost away at Liversedge on Saturday with JJ Chrisp and Dale Pearson coming into the starting line-up in place of Chris McDonald and Jordan Lamb. Youngster Bradley Moncur was amongst the substitutes and made a brief cameo for the final few minutes of the game.

The first chance of the game fell to the hosts after just five minutes when Ryan Rushen dragged an effort wide from close-range. 

Dunston responded well and carved out their first chance after ten minutes. A ball over the top of the Grantham defence worked its way to Jack Maskell who lobbed an effort over Curtis Hall, but it dropped wide.

David Robinson was looking lively in the middle of the park and had a couple of chances of his own. An effort from outside the box was aimed straight at Hall, and then a header went just over the crossbar after a Phil Turnbull free kick.

Dunston continued to ramp up the pressure and were unlucky not to take the lead just before the half-hour mark. A header from Maskell was saved by Hall and went out for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, the ball fell to Djalo and once again Hall was equal to the shot as he palmed it around the post.

Despite the pressure from Dunston, Dan Staples remained switched on as he pulled off a diving save to deny Grantham from taking the lead just minutes later.

Right before half-time came the biggest chance of the game as Dale Pearson went a matter of millimetres away from giving Dunston the lead. Another ball over the top of the defence caused the home side problems as Pearson found himself through on goal. He lobbed the onrushing Hall, but Solomon was there to hack the ball off the line.

With the second half underway, Grantham came close four minutes into the half as Rushen forced Staples into a smart save.

Dunston continued to create chances down the other end and almost took the lead a minute later as Craig Baxter picked out Maskell with a sublime cross however, the latter’s header went agonisingly wide of the post. Maskell then latched onto another cross, but this time his header was comfortably caught by Hall.

With 62 minutes on the clock, the deadlock was finally broken through an unlikely suspect. A quickly taken corner caught the hosts off-guard as Luke Carr pulled the ball back to Craig Baxter who took one touch before rifling the ball into the top corner.

However, the lead lasted just over 15 minutes as Grantham equalised with the next chance of the game. The Gingerbreads were able to launch a counterattack down their right-hand side. The ball was crossed into the box to the back post where Louis Nicholson was able to guide the ball past Staples.

Grantham could have taken the lead with six minutes of the ninety to go, but Dan Staples produced an excellent diving stop to deny Harry Wood.

With time running out to grab a winner, Dunston were afforded one more half-chance in the final minute of stoppage time as Dale Pearson launched an effort over the bar on the half-volley.

Next up for Dunston is another tricky test as we welcome Pontefract Collieries to The UTS Stadium this Saturday afternoon.

Report by Callum Pattison

Image Credit - Beauty Time Photography