Steels A-A Sheffield FC

Stocksbridge Park Steels were leading 1-0 before their match against Sheffield FC was called off due to heavy fog.

The only goal of the game came on the 34th minute when Luke Mangham robbed the ball of the Sheffield defender before turning and hitting a powerful shot into the back of the net. The game would be called off in the 75th minute due to referee saying the fog was too heavy to continue play in.

The first big chance of the game went to Mangham. He was played through and he was confident enough to get past Ryan Musselwhite who making his debut for Sheffield in their goal. It looked certain for the goal to be scored but the shot was blocked by Josh Burns on the line to keep the game goalless in the opening part of the match.

Stocksbridge were putting plenty of pressure on the Sheffield goal as they looked to double their lead, though the Oldest Club were getting opportunities from set pieces. Josh Nodder had a good effort saved by Musselwhite while a returning Scott Ruthven headed just wide when given too much space in the box.

The Steels got their deserved lead through. The initial cross from Nathaniel Crofts was dealt with by the Sheffield defence but they didn’t clear their lines. Mangham nipped in and stole the ball off the defender and was able to turn and shoot with enough power to give Musselwhite little chance of saving it.

Sheffield weren’t far off getting an equaliser not long after though. The ball was crossed in from the right and the Steels failed to clear their lines. The ball fell to Ruthven who was looking to make some headlines after his move to the Oldest Club who smashed the ball goalwards. Ed Hall made a great reflex save though to keep Stocksbridge ahead going into the second half.

Stocksbridge improved in the second half and took control of the game as they looked to double their advantage. Nodder was getting into the game more and there were good passing sequences which helped get the Steels into better positions. A powerful shot from Nodder wasn’t far off but Musselwhite was equal to it like he was in the first half.

The big chance came later on. Sheffield were caught pressing too much and the ball was played to Crofts who bounced off his defender before turning on the afterburners and passing all of the defenders with ease. He went one-on-one with a goalkeeper and his delicate shot was lofted over Musselwhite and looked destined for the bottom corner but instead it went just wide.

While all of this was happening, the fog was getting deeper with it being a struggle to see the corner flags from the Jamie Vardy stand. Eventually, the referee called a halt to proceedings and stopped the game for 15 minutes to see if the conditions would improve. He returned after that amount of time and with him believing the game could not be completed, the game was abandoned with the match set to be replayed at a future date.

MOTM: Sam Finlaw