FA Cup win at Shepshed - Steve Jones, Nantwich Town v Bamber Bridge

Nantwich Town battled out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Conference North side AFC Fylde.

The Dabbers’ latest pre-season encounter saw the hosts race into a 3-0 lead at the Weaver Stadium.

Veteran striker Steve Jones (pictured) bagged two goals, and Jonny Kapend added a third just after half time, before Fylde battled back.

Dabbers boss Phil Parkinson named a mixed team of trialists and first team players.

Curtis Jones made his first start since joining, with Ben Harrison and Mat Bailey anchoring the defence alongside Ibou Touray.

Matt Bell also made his first appearance and started alongside Sam Hall in midfield.

Trialists Dom Smith, Niall Flint and Jonny Kapend featured as they started upfront alongside Jones.

Youth team players Kieran Smith, Cal Jones and Sam Dodd were on the bench, as was new signing Tim Sanders.

The first half started with Fylde looking to control possession and dictate the tempo.

After seven minutes, the Dabbers were ahead with the first chance of the game.

A mistake in the Fylde defence put Jones in on goal and he lifted the ball past Paul White for 1-0.

Daniels continued to cause problems for Nantwich’s backline, linking well with Stephen Crainey on the left wing.

Midway through the first half, Jason Gilchrist went down under a challenge from Parton, but the Fylde appeals for a penalty went unanswered.

After 30 minutes, Dom Smith came off for Josh Gordon.

Gilchrist had the next chance of the game as he headed a cross from Daniels straight at Dabbers stopper Parton.

With six minutes to go until half time, the Dabbers brought on Wayne Riley for Niall Flint.

The Dabbers then doubled their advantage as a through ball was deflected into the path of Jones.

He showed his composure to round White and slot into an empty net.

Four minutes into the second half, the home side extended their lead.

The ball broke to Kapend on the right hand side of the penalty area and he smashed a superb strike into the roof of the net.

Youth team players Cal Jones and Sam Dodd made their first pre-season appearances in place of Ben Harrison and Matt Bell as the Dabbers reshuffled.

A minute later, the Dabbers could have had a fourth. Steve Jones was denied his hat-trick by White and Dodd was also foiled.

On 56 minutes, Jones was played through and was caught by onrushing White.

White received a yellow card and Gordon hit the free kick straight at him.

Fylde made a number of changes, bringing on former Crewe Alex and Dabbers player Caspar Hughes, along with Sam Finley and Danny Rowe.

The Dabbers captain Sam Hall came off for Kieran Smith. Two minutes after the changes, Fylde had a goal back.

Quick footwork by Rowe created space and he curled a superb finish into the top corner.

Two minutes later, Fylde scored again.

Finley dispossessed Josh Gordon and weaved his way through the defence before slotting under Parton.

Fylde pushed hard for an equaliser as the Dabbers sought to hold onto their slender lead.

With 15 minutes to go, Fylde’s pressure told.

A free kick from the edge of the box hit the wall and deflected into the path of Matt Blinkhorn, who calmly put the ball under Parton.

Nantwich Town: Parton, Curtis Jones, Bailey, Harrison, Touray, Bell, Hall(c), Smith, S.Jones, Flint, Kapend. Subs: Riley, Gordon, Stair, Smith, Cal Jones, Dodd, Sanders

Oi Sponsor us or else…

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Contribute MonthlyContribute Once

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website, to learn more please read our privacy policy.

*

Captcha * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.