Steels 0-0 Farsley Celtic

Stocksbridge Park Steels held National League North side Farsley Celtic to a 0-0 draw in their first pre-season friendly of the summer at Bracken Moor on Friday, 19 July.

The Steels, who were without a few key personnel including manager Ian Richards, found themselves under the cosh from first whistle, with Farsley starting the game on the front foot. Goalkeeper Harry Garman was in action 10 minutes into the game, parrying a cross before Jordan Lemon headed the ball away for a corner.

Farsley’s Alex Kiwomya had the first major chance of the game when a sublime touch saw him surpass Dan Nelson and go one on one with Garman. The goalkeeper, though, stood tall. Garman then produced a flying save to keep the scoreline at 0-0 towards the end of first half.

In one of the last major events of the first period, Farsley’s DJ Campton-Sturridge found himself through on goal, but failed to hit the target.

Stocksbridge were the better side in the first 15 minutes of the second half before Farsley changed their whole team just before the one-hour mark. Kyle Austin found Tommy Marshall on the right side of the box with an eye-of-the-needle pass, but the latter’s subsequent cross let him down.

Austin staked his claim to be the man of the match, making a brilliant tackle to win the ball back in midfield. Minutes later, he made another crucial interception to deny Farsley the chance to take a shot inside the box.

Meanwhile, a fresh Farsley XI continued their dominance over the Steels. One attacker got a good sight of the goal after beating Lemon, but failed to hit the target. In one of the best moments of the game, Nelson produced a stunning clearance in front of the Stocksbridge goal to deny the visitors what appeared to be a likely goal. Garman followed it up with another fine save to keep the scoreline at 0-0.

In the end, it was an impressive result for the Steels, who will now face Retford United at home on Tuesday, 23 July.