Steeton AFC v AFC Blackpool

Steeton AFC v AFC Blackpool

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Recap

STEETON extended their unbeaten run to four games with yet more injury-time drama with a draw against AFC Blackpool.

On the back of a 93rd minute winner against Garstang and a 94th minute equaliser against Bacup in the games prior, it was this time a 90th minute leveller to secure at least a point.

Yet, despite surrendering a two-goal lead and feeling like they could have had more than a point on the day, manager Roy Mason was upbeat as his side continued their turnaround in form since the Droylsden defeat a fortnight previous.

It also marked the third consecutive game in which Josh Coe was the scorer of the injury time goal as he continued his recent run of super sub appearances.

On another pulsating afternoon at Marley, the Chevvies drew first blood inside the opening two minutes.

After catching the visitors with an offside trap, a quick free kick was flicked wide to the left channel by Josh Debenham.

Alex Stewart took control and drove forward down the wing before cutting in to the area and coolly placing the ball inside the near post to break the deadlock.

Continuing to push forward, the men in green were causing their opposition all sorts of problems at the back.

And they doubled their lead through a moment of individual brilliance by the captain, Arley Barnes.

Making an overlapping run down the right channel, Barnes would see his initial delivery blocked.

The ball fell back onto his right foot, and he showed his experience to notice a gap inside the post to execute a lovely, angled volley into the back of the net.

Moments later it should have been three after Barnes again exploited the overlap, but two heroic blocks denied first Stewart and then Jacob Smith.

The game though completely flipped on its head with the Chevrons proving the creators of their own downfall by gifting Blackpool all three of their goals.

The first came in the 25th minute, an attempted clearance from Dan Illingworth wrong footed Alfie Gibbon and allowed Luke Noble in behind to smash the ball beneath debutant keeper Harvey Kelly.

Still holding onto a goal lead heading into the break, the opening fifteen minutes of the second half proved calamitous for the home side.

Just seconds after the restart, Illingworth’s header back towards Kelly was cut out by Luke Hepple who put the ball to the right of the onrushing keeper to level up the scores.

And the goal to give the Mechanics the lead would leave Mason beyond angry on the sidelines.

A miscommunication at the back between Kelly and his defence left the ball free in the box, Nick Hepple following his brother’s lead to take possession and put the ball into an empty net.

Now chasing the game, Steeton began to create chances once more similar to the positive opening quarter of the contest but found themselves frustrated as Blackpool keeper Josh Wood made a string of outstanding yet important saves to keep his sides lead intact.

The visitors also had a chance to kill the game off with five minutes on the clock but were denied by a heroic block.

Then, in the final minute of normal time, parity and a point were restored.

On the back of some flowing football to work the ball forward, Harvey Green saw his strike blocked by a Blackpool defender.

The referee ruled the block was with the hand and pointed to the spot.

And in a carbon copy of Tuesday, Coe would step up to fire the penalty into the bottom corner for his side.

STEETON (Subs): Kelly; Barnes; Gibbon; Kirkpatrick; Illingworth (Hancock); M Smith; Green; J Smith; Debenham (Coe); A Stewart (Williamson); Townsend (Mitchell). Sub (Not Used): Gartland.

GOALS (Assists): A Stewart 2’ (Debenham); Barnes 13’ (Barnes); Coe 90’ (Green)

Details

DateTimeLeagueSeason
August 24, 20243:00 pmNWCFL2024/25

Ground

Marley Stadium
Marland Road, Keighley, Riddlesden, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, BD21 4DB, United Kingdom

Results

Club1st Half2nd HalfGoals
Steeton213
AFC Blackpool123

Steeton

# PlayerPositionGoalsAssistsYellow CardsRed CardsMan of the Match
1Private: Harvey KellyGoalkeeper00000
2Arley BarnesMidfield1 (13')0000
3Private: Alfie GibbonDefender00000
4Ollie KirkpatrickDefender00000
5Dan Illingworth 12Defender00000
6Macca SmithDefender01000
7Harvey GreenMidfield00001
8Jacob SmithDefender00000
9Josh Debenham 17Striker01000
10Alex Stewart 16Defender1 (2')0000
11Jake Townsend 14Midfield01000
12Private: Kyle Hancock 5Midfield00000
14Emerson Mitchell 11Midfield00000
15Lewis GartlandMidfield00000
16Owen Williamson 10Attacker00000
17Josh Coe 9Striker1 (90')0000