Steels 0-1 Stockton Town

Stocksbridge Park Steels lost to both Stockton Town and the conditions in a tough 1-0 defeat.

The early moments were tough for both sides as they struggled to adjust to a windy and wet Bracken Moor. The big early chance did fall to Stocksbridge though as Luke Rawson controlled a ball down well before passing it back to Kurtis Turner. He hit it well, but it was just over the bar.

As time went on, Stockton grew more into the game and were starting to have moments of pressure, often trying to take advantage of the Steels struggling to clear their lines. Stephen Thompson was denied by an unorthodox save from Ben Townsend, but he’d turn creator for the eventual goal. Thompson whipped in the ball and Glen Butterworth was free in the box to nod home and give the Anchors the lead.

Stocksbridge got the game going in the second half and looked much improved, much like last week’s match against Liversedge. However, some good passing moves were not rewarded, with the Stockton defence remaining strong. In fact, the first big chance went Stockton’s way as Butterworth tried to get a second with a long distance shot, but it was well saved by Townsend.

The Steels huffed and puffed for a lot of the game but they couldn’t break down a Stockton defence that were determined to return to Teesside with all three points. In fact, Stocksbridge were lucky not to be two goals behind. A clearance was blocked by Michael Fowler and he evaded a tackle to go one-on-one with Townsend. But just as he broke into the box, Tom Charlesworth made a stunning sliding tackle to prevent an almost certain goal.

Unfortunately, this didn’t inspire the Steels team to go to get back into the game. Their opportunities were restricted and Stocksbridge are still yet to win a game against Stockton.