Daisy Hill v Steeton AFC

Recap

STEETON recorded their first win of the season at the fifth attempt as they picked up three points on the road away to Daisy Hill.

On a glorious summer’s eve in Westhoughton, a dogged and determined performance from Roy Mason’s side felt a world away from the one that had marred the manager’s landmark occasion two days previous at Droylsden.

But a first victory on the board not only provides a foothold heading into the remainder of the campaign but a much-needed morale boost after a tough start to the season so far.

Despite a bright opening to proceedings from the visitors, it would be Daisy Hill that squandered the two first real opportunities of the game.

On both occasions, Ben Unsworth first and then Ryan Talbot, would both find free headers at the near post yet turned their efforts wide for a goal kick.

Mason’s charges broke the deadlock shortly after the half-hour mark.

A long ball forward led to an aerial dual between the Steeton attackers and Daisy defenders.

Owen Williamson put his body on the line as he threw his head towards the ball and was treated by not only winning the header but also with a rough landing.

Josh Debenham made no mistake with the ball at his feet, composing himself one-on-one to strike the ball into the bottom left corner for his first goal since signing for the club the Friday prior from Oxenhope Recreation.

Steeton would get their second half off to a dream start from twelve yards.

Marauding forward from the restart, the Chevrons won a corner.

In and amongst the tussling within the area, Morgan Newns in the Daisy Hill goal would throw Jacob Smith into the back of the net to prevent the midfielder making a jump for the delivery.

The linesman spotted the incident and flagged for the penalty, the referee pointing to the spot.

Smith picked himself up from the deck and composed to smash the ball home and double his sides lead.

The home side however found a way back into the game.

Struggling to break down their opposition, Kyle Whittaker found space on the right wing to cut inside and strike from range past James Catlow to half the deficit.

The pace of the second half proved frantic and explosive as tensions began to boil over.

The visitors rose above it to restore their two-goal advantage.

From a throw, Harvey Green attracted two defenders and played the ball back into the path of Macca Smith.

With time and space, the full-back whipped the ball towards the far post where it was met by the head of Jack Lynn much to the jubilation of himself and teammates alike.

Yet just two minutes later, Daisy Hill found themselves right back in the arm wrestle.

Kaiden Barlow saw his strike from range superbly saved low by Catlow, Talbot reacted fastest to the rebound to head home from close range and set-up a grandstand finish at the New Sirs.

A nervy end seemed to be upon the horizon for Steeton as late drama saw the officials wrongly produce a second yellow card in a case of mistaken identity, but the referee realised the error and quickly overturned the decision.

There would be further late drama as Talbot again had the ball in the back of the net, but his apparent equaliser was ruled out for offside as the linesman’s flag had been raised.

The Chevrons held on for a huge win, even at this early stage, ahead of a run of three straight home fixtures which begins against Garstang on Saturday.

STEETON (Subs): Catlow; M Smith; Gibbon; Kirkpatrick; J Smith (Illingworth); Mitchell; Green; Barnes; Debenham; Williamson (Gartland); Lynn. Subs (Not Used): Hartley; Cunningham; Coe.

GOALS (Assists): Debenham 34’ (Williamson); J Smith 48’ (J Smith); Lynn 61’ (M Smith)