Steels Reserves 2-4 Barnsley Town
Written by Dakir Thanveer
Stocksbridge Park Steels Reserves suffered a 4-2 defeat against Barnsley Town in a pre-season friendly at Bracken Moor on Saturday, 27th July.
The Steels made a quick start to the game, registering their first shot on target through Thomson Cartledge in the first minute. The pressure quickly turned into a goal as Cartledge turned the ball in after Matty Lee’s close-range shot was initially blocked.
Lee attempted to double Stocksbridge’s lead with an ambitious long-range effort and although it had swerve it was a bit too straight at the Barnsley Town goalkeeper. Cole Thorpe had a similar attempt from the left side of the box, but could not hit the target. Meanwhile, Dan Emery made a good low save to his right to deny the visitors a quick equaliser.
The Steels dwindled towards the midway point in the first half, allowing Barnsley Town to gain momentum. After a couple of scares, the visitors eventually equalised in the 26th minute with a low shot from the right side of the box.
Ten minutes later, they scored again in similar fashion, thus taking the lead.
Stocksbridge made a host of changes at half-time, with Ewan Oxborough, Joe West, Lucas Bell, Alex Cormack, Whylie Walford, Bradley Adams, Louie Hall and John Hennessey coming on. Daniel Bend was brought on after the hour-mark. Nevertheless, the team struggled to get back in the groove.
Barnsley Town, meanwhile, doubled their lead at the hour-mark, capitalising on an error at the back.
Despite going two goals behind, the Steels continued to push, with Hall pulling one back in the 66th minute. The winger slotted the ball in after being set up for a shot from the right side of the box by Adams. Bell came close to equalising two minutes later after a goalkeeper error allowed him to take a tame shot, which, unfortunately, missed the target.
Barnsley Town would have doubled their lead again had it not been for a solid save from Oxborough in the 75th minute. Walford had a sight of goal at the end other, but his shot was straight at the goalkeeper.
As the Steels pushed for an equaliser, a long-range effort from Barnsley Town sneaked its way into the back of the net, reinstating their two-goal lead and seeing the game end 4-2 in the visitors’ favour.
