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Belper Town 2
2
Rawson (12', 72')
5 Dunston
5
Djalo (33', 45+2', 55'), O'Donnell (42', 85')

REPORT | Belper Town 2 Dunston UTS 5

Dunston made it five wins in a row after a huge 5-2 win away at league leaders Belper Town, with a hat-trick from Sado Djalo and a brace from JJ O’Donnell.

Jon McDonald originally named an unchanged line-up from Tuesday evening’s 4-1 battering of Brighouse Town, but an injury to Scott Robson in the warmup forced him to start Dale Pearson out wide. Rory Edwards initially dropped out of the squad to allow for the return of Chris McDonald from suspension, but Edwards was brought back onto the bench as a result of Robson’s injury.

Despite a brace from Belper’s centre-forward Luke Rawson, the Blues managed to get their revenge on the Nailers with a convincing win in Derbyshire.

The hosts started in dominant fashion, with a huge chance falling to Kelan Swales after a mistake at the back from the visitors, but the winger failed to hit the target with his chipped effort.

It wasn’t long before the home side had their lead, as Luke Rawson managed to poke home from close range after Dunston failed to defend a set piece.

It looked like Jon McDonald’s men were in for a long afternoon, with chances flowing for Belper to get their second. But on thirty-three minutes, the game was flipped completely on its head. 

Out of nowhere, the Blues were level after a picture-perfect cross from Phil Turnbull allowed Sado Djalo to easily knock the ball in from a few yards out. 

Dunston took their newfound momentum and used it to perfection, scoring twice more before the break. The first, an excellent close-range header from JJ O’Donnell from another Turnbull cross. The second, another simple finish for the clinical Djalo after Dan Turner sat down his defender and squared it across goal.

The visitors came out in the second-half hunting for more goals, and they were quickly rewarded. Djalo grabbed his second ever Dunston hat-trick, his first since an 8-1 win against Willington in the Durham Challenge Cup in October 2022. The in-from forward capitalised on the Nailers’ failure to clear their lines, sliding the ball home from close range for his thirteenth goal of the season.

The Guinea Bissau-born forward almost had a fourth of the afternoon, as he had a free header from a deep free-kick but agonisingly missed the target.

The hosts provided a scare when Luke Rawson guided home a flick-on to reduce their deficit to two goals, with twenty minutes left to play.

The deficit was almost halved in the 84th minute, as Dan Lowson pulled off a tremendous save at full stretch to deny Rawson from close range after some pinball in the area.

Dunston's nerves were settled soon after, as JJ O’Donnell burst through on goal on the break, before calmly slotting the ball past Preston to regain a three-goal cushion.

The Blues expertly saw out the game for the remaining minutes, giving them a crucial three points against a rival in the title race.

Dunston return to action on Saturday 1st February, in their first of seven games next month. They play host to Bishop Auckland in a local derby at the UTS Stadium.


Belper Town: Preston, Rhodes, Warren, Whitehead (Austin 65’), Broadhead (C), Evans, Swales (King 61’), Burrows, Rawson, Crofts (Atem 80’), Watson

Unused subs:

Bookings: Broadhead (18’), Whitehead (44’), Warren (67’), Evans (76’)

Goals: Rawson (12’, 72’)

Dunston UTS: Lowson, Neary (Baxter 90+4’), Chrisp (McDonald 76’), P. Turnbull (A. Turnbull 86’), Swailes, Devitt, O’Donnell, M. Pearson (C) (Edwards 90’), Djalo, Turner, D. Pearson (Coulson 69’)

Unused subs:

Bookings: M. Pearson (88’)

Goals: Djalo (33’, 45+2’, 55’), O’Donnell (42’, 85’)

HT: 1-3

FT: 2-5

Venue: Raygar Stadium

Attendance: 544

Published Sunday 26th January 2025