REPORT: Valiant effort from short-handed Dronfield but Selby still prevail

It was a gallant effort from Dronfield Town, shorn of nine first team regulars, but sadly they still went down by 3-1 at high flying Selby Town. Dronfield were good value for a one goal half time lead through Danny Wood and even into the second half, their work ethic kept them well in the contest. Injuries to Wood and Callum Mawbey proved crucial as Selby took a 2-1 lead before wrapping up the three points with a third fully eight minutes into added time.

Dronfield weathered an early spell of Selby pressure before Wood’s speculative ball into the area was punched by Selby keeper Dylan Parkin into the back of his own central defender; the attack eventually coming to nothing.

Sellers had a shot from twenty yards held by Dronfield’s Lewis Naylor at the second attempt but it was the visitors who were to assert themselves on the rest of the half.

On sixteen minutes, Mawbey found himself in acres of space at the top of the Selby area but his shot was saved by Parkin as he came under pressure from a Selby defender.

Mawbey made amends seven minutes later. His ball fed Danny Wood, who sidestepped his man in the area before blasting into the roof of the net to put Dronfield one goal to the good.

Regan Rooke was shown a yellow card towards the end of the half but there was no doubt that Dronfield had deserved their 0-1 half time lead given the shift that their young side had put in.

The expected reaction from Selby failed to materialise at the start of the second half as well. Ten minutes in, Dronfield’s Owen Lester shot straight at Parkin from eighteen yards after a nice move where he was eventually teed up by Rooke.

Selby skipper Ryan Gothard headed just over from a right wing cross on the hour mark as a prelude to a mad four minute spell where Dronfield’s valiant display came unstuck.

Callum Mawbey went down with an injury, shortly followed by Danny Wood – the two being replaced by Ethan Flower and Tom Berry from the bench.

With the momentum temporarily lost, a ball in from the right was stabbed home in the melee by leading scorer Liam Flanagan to pull Selby level.

Just two minutes later, the home side took the lead. A ball was swung out to Harry Clapham on the right hand edge of the penalty area, who placed his low shot past Naylor to give Selby a 2-1 advantage.

Dronfield could have capitulated at this point but to their credit they pushed on for an equaliser. Sam Bebbington’s long throw from the right fell to Owen Lester on seventy five minutes as his shot from eight yards out rose over the bar.

Five minutes from time, Tom Berry’s delicate cross was glanced just wide from six yards by the head of Connor Chapell and four minutes into added time, James Bennion’s header went straight into the hands of a grateful Dylan Parkin in the Selby goal.

Cruelly, Selby gained a third eight minutes into stoppage time. Flanagan claimed his eleventh of the season by dinking the ball round an advancing Naylor and tapping into the empty net to secure a 3-1 win for the home side.

So despite a manful effort in trying circumstances, Dronfield remain in nineteenth place ahead of a Tuesday night fixture at the HE Barnes Stadium when North Ferriby are the opposition. The result will be of no consolation but the performance by the likes of youngsters Isaac Knight and Regan Rooke surely bodes well for future success.

Selby Town: Parkin, Cooper, Sellers, Snaith, Gothard, Drury, McNaughton, Clamp, Flanagan, Rogerson, Clapham. Subs: Vass, Klimczak, Davison, Blade, Cahill.

Dronfield Town: Naylor, Bebbington, Wright, Lester, Knight, Fairweather, Chapell, Rooke, Savage, Wood, Mawbey. Subs: Flower, Siddons, Bennion, Berry.

Attendance: 282