Carlton Town 1-3 Steels

09/11/2022Last Updated: 12/11/2022

201 3 minutes read

Stocksbridge Park Steels played as Robin Hood in Nottinghamshire as they stole away with three points against Carlton Town.

Carlton started off the stronger as they looked to stop their recent poor form which had seen them drop into the relegation play-offs. They should have had the lead early on but some how, former Frickley Athletic striker Bradley Wells turned a shot from within the six-yard box wide.

Wells would come to rue that missed chance just a minute later. Kurtis Turner sent a ball over the ball and Tomas Poole, remaining as a striker with Luke Rawson’s absence, latched onto the end before knocking the ball perfectly over the Carlton keeper and into the back of the net, giving the Steels the lead.

Carlton got back on the ball well after conceding the goal and for the early parts of the game they were dominant. The one thing they were not able to do was put the ball in the back of the net. Carlton did everything, force a good save from Harrison Davison-Hale, have one cleared off the line by Elliot Murray and send shots narrowly over the bar and wide from inside the box. But luckily for the Steels, they were still leading despite this barrage.

There was some controversy as well as Carlton did have it in the back of the net. From a corner, the ball went into the box and Davison-Hale claimed it before it was knocked out of his hands and it ended up in the back of the net. The referee adjudged it to be a foul on the goalkeeper and Stocksbridge’s clean sheet remained in tact for a while longer.

The big surprise was that Stocksbridge would be the team to get the next goal. Ify Ofoegbu worked hard down the right hand side and put a cross into the box. It was a bit overhit but Lewis Macaskill was able to head it back into the danger zone where Poole was to score his and Stocksbridge’s second of the day.

Carlton would continue to dominate and cause problems but again they fell victim to the sucker punch and conceded another. The Steels got a late free kick in the first half and Poole put a dangerous cross into the box. Jack Tinker headed the ball down to the ground and Murray was there to sweep it home to give Stocksbridge a very unlikely 3-0 lead.

The Millers needed a quick start to give themselves hope of a comeback in the second half and they got exactly that. Wells finally got the turn on his defender and was able to get the space to fire home. This gave the home fans all the belief they needed for the rest of the game.

Carlton looked to push and get that comeback going but they were getting foiled by Davison-Hale. He made a string of impressive saves to keep Carlton at bay when they were able to break into the box and create a chance. However, for the most part the Stocksbridge defence were able to remain strong, with Murray and substitute Keegan Townrow putting in strong performances in defence. Ross Goodwin’s recovery from injury returned as he came on as a sub and added more steel into a midfield looking to protect their defence.

This would be enough in the end. Stocksbridge did show some threat at the other end, once again John Oluleye came on and was about panic the opposition defence a few times with his raw pace, but in the end it was not conceding that was more important, something they did to achieve their 3rd away win and move to 7th in the Northern Premier League East.

MOTM: Tomas Poole