Steels Reserves 5-2 Barnsley Town
Written by Dakir Thanveer
It was goals galore at Bracken Moor as Stocksbridge Park Steels Reserves beat Barnsley Town 5-2 in the Saturday Cup on Saturday, 9 November.
The Steels started on the front as they have often done this season, taking just seconds to register their first shot of the game.
With much of the action taking place in the attacking half, Stocksbridge took the lead in the 20th minute. Thomson Cartledge displayed a good feel for the ball in the box as he took a neat touch to set himself of a shot, which whizzed past the opposition goalkeeper.
The hosts were guilty of going into bit of a lull after taking the lead, with a lack of communication leading to confusion and unforced errors at times. This paved way for the opponents to pull level in the 35th minute.
That was the impetus for Mark Fretwell’s side to get going again as they went on to restore their lead six minutes later. Walford, who set up Cartledge’s opener, won a penalty after being brought into the box before Louis Hall found the bottom right corner from the resulting spot-kick.
Cartledge turned playmaker 10 minutes into the second half, making a splendid run down the left flank and leaving a Barnsley defender in his wake before pulling it back to Hall, who found the back of the net with a first-time finish.
The Steels continued to have a lot of joy on the left wing as Bradley Adams, who came on a few minutes earlier, darted down that flank. While his initial cut-back was intercepted, the ball fell to Cartledge, who found the back of the bottom-right corner with a tidy finish from the edge of the box.
A mistake at the back saw the visitors pull one back immediately after however.
It did not take long for Stocksbridge to restore their three-goal lead, with substitute Matthew Lee netting their fifth. Fellow substitute Oliver Cormack played the winger down the right wing before he got the better of an onrushing defender and tucked the ball past the goalkeeper.
