Steels 3-0 Sheffield FC

Stocksbridge Park Steels kept the three points in South Yorkshire after a 3-0 win over Sheffield FC.

It was the World’s Oldest Club who started off better as they looked to move from the bottom of the table. They had a big chance early on when Luke Mangham went clear in the box. He played the ball back looking for Luke Aldrich but it went just behind him, and the former Penistone Church man couldn’t get his shot off. It then opened up for Cameron Bedford but a sliding challenge from Kurtis Turner stopped him from scoring.

And after making a crucial tackle at one end, Turner would make an impact at the other. Great passing play saw James Morris flick the ball back to Kurtis Turner and he hit a powerful shot that left Mikey Roxburgh with no chance as it burst into the back of the net.

Sheffield continued to press but despite their possession domination, they struggled to put quality balls into the box and Stocksbridge were able to deal with anything they threw forward. And it was a counter which saw Stocksbridge double their lead. Danny Deakin’s cross seemed overhit but Alex O’Connor put the ball back in the middle and James Morris was there for a classic poacher’s finish.

In the second half, Sheffield were desperate to get an early goal but it would go the other way. After defending a ball into the box, Stocksbridge’s big ball forward unlocked the Oldest Club defence, with Morris beating Ben Whelan to the ball. He then took the ball around Roxburgh who was well out of his box and managed to pull off the tricky finish from long range to double his tally for the day.

Morris could have had a hat trick as he was presented with more chances, but on these occasions he was denied by Roxburgh. Sheffield didn’t offer much hope of a comeback to their travelling fans and so the Steels got the double over their rivals.