Steels 2-1 Chesterfield
Written by Dakir Thanveer.
Stocksbridge Park Steels earned a 2-1 victory over a Chesterfield XI at Bracken Moor in their seventh pre-season friendly on Thursday, 25th July.
A mixture of senior and reserves players took to the field for the Steels against the Spireites, who lined up in a similar setup. Despite the new look XI, the home side picked up right where they left off in their 4-0 win against Retford United earlier this week, making a quick start to the game.
Thomson Cartledge and Luca Defalco combined well on the left flank before playing Louie Hall through on goal. Hall, though, was fouled by the Chesterfield goalkeeper right outside the box before he could pull the trigger.
The resulting free-kick appeared too close to the goal for Defalco to the take the ball over the wall, but the forward stuck to his guns as his thumped the ball into the left corner, giving Stocksbridge the lead. Hall then came close to doubling the lead for the hosts, setting himself for a chance in the box only for his shot to let him down.
Minutes later, Cartledge had a sight of goal as he attempted to find the back of the net with a brilliant left-footed shot from the left side of the box. The woodwork, though, worked in Chesterfield’s favour.
Stocksbridge made three changes at the break, with Daniel Emery, Judah Smith and Trialist B replacing Ewan Oxborough, Ethan Thompson and Trialist A.
After a quieter start to the second half, Cartledge doubled the lead for the Steels just before the one-hour mark. The ball fell kindly to him after a scramble in front of the goal following a corner, allowing him to find the back of the net with a bit of help from a deflection.
Cartledge was one of the two players to be immediately substituted, with Elliot Owen also coming off, and Daniel Hernandez and Owen Oram-Jones taking their place. Matthew Lee and Whylie Walford also soon came on for Defalco and Hall.
The Steels did a great job at keeping Chesterfield at bay until the 70-minute mark, with Tyler Folly particularly making a great sliding tackles in the box in each half. However, an acrobatic overhead kick saw the visitors halve the lead and the game end 2-1.
