Steels Reserves 2-2 Sheffield Town

A late, unforseen comeback from Sheffield Town denied Steels Reserves all three points.

A flick from Martell Daswell and a fortunate own goal by Tauofiq Hannioui put the Steels full steam ahead and on course to a third home win on the bounce. However, late goals from Alsubari and Benson saw the sides share the spoils.

The first goal, which was the first real action of the half, came via not a Stocksbridge boot but a Sheffield Town one. Some unselfish play from Charlie Cope saw him attempt to play the ball back into the middle of the box for the onrushing Brandon Whitfield, instead, it cannoned off Tauofiq Hannioui’s leg and put the home side ahead.

The visitors were going to at least try and have their say, it was a close call when Nickolas Benson closed down Steels keeper Will Bond, blocked his clearance and tried to lay it off to his fellow striker, however Luke Battle was aware and threw himself in the way of the pass diminish any danger.

Further Steels pressing proved difficult for Sheffield Town to deal with, when Whitfield showed great strength to hold off defenders and thread a clever pass into the path of skipper Dan Broomhead who just wasn’t able to keep his effort down.

Stocksbridge’s dominating play was capitalised on at the end of the first half courtesy of a deft flick from Martell Daswell, from a Taylor Mansell cross, to nudge the ball beyond the finger tips of Aaron Stockton.

In the second half, Jamal Yussuf was the first to sting the palms of Will Bond who did well to keep out a low deflected effort from an acute angle.

After a slight lull, the game burst straight back into life when Jibreal Alsubari pulled Sheffield Town back into the game with a goal from almost nowhere, his 18 yard drive was just beyond Will Bond’s gloves and lead to a tense finish.

The visitors must’ve thought they’d equalised after Osamwenyobo Iyamu made contact with a cross which seemed destined for the net, however Bond in the Steels net had other ideas and at full stretch denied the effort.

However, it wasn’t to be for Holmshaw’s men, and the Steels defence, which had been outstanding until then, cracked. Nickolas Benson tried his luck from outside the box with a left footed effort which nestled into the bottom corner.

The Steels will feel hard done by after another battling performance, but the draw maintains their unbeaten home record. An away trip to Jubilee Sports First awaits Steels Reserves.