Armthorpe Welfare 2-1 Dinnington Town

Armthorpe Welfare 2-1 Dinnington Town
Pre-Season Friendly
Tuesday 8th September 2020

Quite how much longer we'll be able to attend football matches for at any level, given Boris Johnson and his clueless sidekicks have announced tightening of Covid-19 restrictions, who knows?

Tuesday nights are made for football, nevertheless, and with Armthorpe hosting Dinnington in a quickly-arranged pre-season friendly after their game last weekend was postponed at the eleventh hour, it was too good an opportunity to turn down.

It was either this or EastEnders - thus, there was only one winner!

It was actually a decent game of football as well and despite Armthorpe taking the lead inside 10 minutes when Paul Sherburn hammered a low shot past the visiting 'keeper following a ball in from the right, Dinnington put up a good fight and were unlucky not to come away with a draw.

Welfare could doubled their lead before half-time; Tyler Walker cutting a ball back across the six-yard box in one attack when he probably should have had a shot himself, whilst a team-mate had gone closer just a few minutes earlier with a shot which was saved by the 'keeper (though he should have buried it).

The hosts made it 2-0 just before the hour mark when Chris Bilton rose highest to meet a set-piece and planted a firm header between the 'keepers legs, but their lead lasted four minutes - Dinnington scrambling the ball over the line with a rebound shot after the Armthorpe 'keeper got down well to save the initial effort.

It wasn't pretty and by the final few minutes of the game Armthorpe were desperately clinging on - being forced to defend doggedly as they sought to see the job through.

They didn't help themselves by constantly giving the ball away, but the best Dinnington could muster up were two or three powerful shots from outside the area, some corners and a couple of long-throws which looked as though they might wreak havoc.

Armthorpe fielded three former DRFC scholars in Tyler Walker, Conner Williamson and Adam Lee and I'm definitely still not convinced by Tyler's boots! He played the 90 minutes, Conner was substituted just after half-time and Adam Lee played the majority of the match.


Next up: Rossington Main vs Penistone Church - unless, of course, our idiotic PM decides that 5,000 people is okay at Donny Races, but 50 people and a dog is 'unsafe' watching a different sport.