Season 2009 - 2010 Match Reports
Chesterfield Sunday League Div. 4 (Darley Dale United)

Matchday 3 - 27/09/09 v Hasland, *No fixture*

Matchday 2 - 13/09/09
Darley Dale Utd 0 Barrel 7
Still undergoing a slight transitional period, Sunday’s fixture for United produced two contrasting performances. The first half was one to forget, as Darley saw fifteen minutes of hard work undone in a crazy half hour that saw them concede six goals. Amongst the many below par performances which contributed to the lethargic first half display, Sam Wheeldon in goal provided a good backstop to halt the opposition reaching double figures, whilst new signing Tom Woodhouse and the old general Matthew Dennis in the center of midfield displayed the grit and determination which frankly was lacking throughout the rest of the team. Staring down the Barrell of humiliation, United had nothing to lose in the second half, from which they seemed to build new confidence. Ashley Webster led by example from his defensive post, battling to save any further embarrassment, whilst igniting many attacking forays. An improved second half from Daz Longley and the introduction of Arron Sellors also contributed to a more fluid display from the Darley side, providing much needed forward penetration and defensive cover from the flanks. Although Barrell did find their way to goal once more without reply in the second half, whether a team loses by a single goal or seven the net rewards are just the same, and with Darley’s team still work in progress their disappointing result is not due to being out of their league, but finding their feet in it.

Matchday 1 - 19/04/09 v Railway, L 0-9 *No report*

Darley Dale Community Cup - 18/07/09
Under 30’s 5 Over 30’s 1
With memories of last year’s 8-2 thrashing, the Over 30’s were determined not to make it as easy for their younger counterparts in what was the fifth year of this popular Community Cup fixture.
In an evenly contested first twenty minutes both sides had chances, with the midfield display from John Cooper and Pepsi Coleman testing the Under 30’s resolve, whilst Ashley Webster, Nick Hibbert and Anthony Williams maintained a fine rearguard against the young attacking force. In a fixture which has yielded an average of over eight goals per game, it was only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken, and when Andrew Clifton raced through from what seemed to be an offside position this particular game had its first. The afternoon could have got considerably worse for the senior side as a dubious penalty was awarded for the Under 30’s which Tim Baker struck with confidence, only to see it met by a flying good save from the Over 30’s MOTM Stuart Pearson. Whilst Pearson was on hand to thwart many Under 30 attacks during the remainder of the first half, the Over 30 side pushed for an equaliser, with Jonathan Sellors, Daniel Stephenson and John Dunsby creating some good flowing moves, one of which ended with Daz Longley going the closest to equalising with a sweet left foot strike. Carrying their momentum through to the second half, the Over 30 side continued to probe Dean Concannon’s goal. With persistent attacking, lead by Matt Allsop and Wez Harrop, an equaliser was to arrive shortly before the hour mark as the golden toes of Martyn Wright found just enough room between Concannon’s desperate finger tip stretch and the crossbar. For the next twenty minutes the game was in the balance, with Ben Page making his presence felt around the legs of the Under 30’s their flow was disrupted, whilst the introduction of Daz Hibbert, heading up the senior attack, could have provided the turning point, if it were not for a cruel injury which ended his participation after only ten minutes. With fate dealing such heavy blows to the Over 30’s and an array of new young talent at their oppositions disposal, which included Daniel Williams, Sam Wheeldon, Tommy Orwin and Dan Critchlow, it seemed to allow the Under 30’s to find a late free scoring gear, in which they ran in four goals in the last ten minutes courtesy of Arron O’Neil (2), Liam Keeton and Tim Baker.