Season: 2024-25
Stocksbridge Park Steels vs Heaton Stannington
An injury time winner for Stocksbridge denied the Stan what would’ve been a hard-fought and well-earned point in South Yorkshire.
The first big chance went the way of the home side on nine minutes – as an eye-of-the-needle pass was slotted from midfield through to the striker Jack Haslam. He raced towards goal but goalkeeper Callum Corkhill made himself big and the shot was slotted wide.
The Stan did well to keep Stocksbridge at bay in a dominant spell of pressure which saw us penned into our own half for a good while. With the box packed, Haslam tried again on 12 minutes but this time his attempt was a sneaky bend into the near post from wide that needed more accuracy to work.
The strong defensive work paid off and the Stan capitalised on a calamity at the back to take the lead on 28 minutes. A Dan Capewell header to clear eventually found its way to Richie Slaughter who was able to fire one over everyone into space for Konner Lamb to run onto – just as Joe Shepherd did last Saturday against North Ferriby.
Stocksbridge keeper Ben Townsend may have won the race, but he failed to gather the ball from his feet and Lamb was able to nip it away from under him. With the goalkeeper beaten, Lamb just had to steady himself to avoid a calamity of his own, which he did and gave the Stan a leader just before the half hour mark.
The home side went back on the offensive and had opportunities to level. Daniel Hernandez headed against the post in first half injury time and an inviting cross looking for Joao Silva was an easy gather for Corkhill not long after the interval.
The men in yellow and blue found their equaliser just before the hour mark, but it began with a Stan attack. Lamb forced the keeper down to a save, but it was always going to be difficult, charging at goal from the right but only able to shoot with the same foot.
Up the other end, a high ball was played into the box by the Stocksbridge midfield. It was brilliantly controlled by Haslam to bring it down, and then another touch allowed him to flick it over Corkhill and into the net.
A draw would’ve been a fair result. The two sides exchanged blows but neither side looked as though they’d done enough to take all three points. A low effort from Kurtis Turner on 63 minutes was easy for Corkhill, and a Hopper volley a few minutes later was too central to get the better of Townsend in the home goal.
The introduction of debutant Joe Thompson made a big difference, injecting pace and trickery out wide. A dangerous cross on 70 minutes made the Stocksbridge keeper work, and when found in space deep into injury time, with the option to shoot towards the near post or send a low ball into the mixer, neither really happened and a good chance to nick it was wasted.
Unfortunately there was still one more chance in the game and it was gobbled up by Stocksbridge in the third minute of injury time. As they’d done so much in the game, the box was filled with yellow and blue shirts, and when Oliwier Grzelak saw an opening through the crowd to shoot, he took it and send a powerful effort past Corkhill to spark jubilant scenes in the home sections and dismay in the Far Corner.
A devastating way to lose, having never looked like losing. The Stan have 11 days until they return to league action with a home game against Newton Aycliffe, with the small matter of an FA Trophy match away to friends Clitheroe in the meantime.
Liam Milburn
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2 vs 1 7 vs 0 
Heaton Stannington v North Ferriby
Konner Lamb once again wrote himself into the club’s history books as his goal helped Heaton Stannington to a win in their first ever FA Trophy match.
It was a fairly even start to the game with both sides cancelling each other out and neither goalkeeper facing a major test in the opening exchanges. The away side had an opportunity a couple of minutes in with a side-footed half-volley which went harmlessly wide, and on 19 minutes, a cross found the head of Tom Corner who couldn’t get his effort on target.
On 28 minutes, North Ferriby had their first chance which needed some intervention from the home defence. Having broke following an unsuccessful Stan corner, the men in maroon got forward in numbers and piled on the pressure. It was Tom Corner who had the shot on goal, but the shoulder of Joe Shepherd forced it behind.
Eight minutes later, the away side rattled the bar. A launched throw into the six yard box was cleared, but straight back to where it came from. The ball was tossed back into the centre and Corner once again had the chance, a warning shot that they were getting closer to breaching our goal.
Having struggled to create anything particularly concrete, the Stan finally started to show signs of life in attack just before half time. Corkhill fired a free kick from midway into the Stan, Danny Sayer was able to dribble to the by-line, cut a ball into the box for Konner Lamb, who tried to bend one into the top corner, but he was unsuccessful on this occasion.
On the other side of the interval, the Stan had their first shot on target. Kailem Beattie – who had switched from centre-back to left-back – found space to run down the left, crossed for Louis Anderson who stabbed the ball towards goal but the keeper reacted well and got down low to it.
The Stan’s goalkeeper would be called into action moments later from similar circumstances to our previous opportunity. Cadman ran down the right, cut a ball back into the centre for Tarbotton, but the strike was a good height for Corkhill to palm and then catch.
The game’s decisive moment finally arrived on 62 minutes. You can decide whether Joe Shepherd’s ball forward was simply a clearance, or in fact a genius bit of attacking play, but the defender hooked the ball from the clutches of the man he was marking, and it sailed over to Konner Lamb who was onside and in acres of space.
Lamb anticipated the ball, latched onto it perfectly, charged towards goal, took a touch to set himself up for a right-footed shot which he fired past North Ferriby goalkeeper Ben Bottomley with some venom.
Far too many of the Stan’s recent games have been goalfests – fascinating for the neutrals but agonising for supporters – and that’s exactly what they wanted to avoid today. Having had to absorb a lot of pressure and wait patiently for their chance, Dean’s men threw themselves into the challenge to secure progression to the next round.
Half-time substitute and debutant Dan Capewell blocked a shot from Tarbotton on 67 minutes, and Corkhill caught Tilsley’s header from the resulting corner. The away side continued to push but were no match for the valiant Stan defence. A peach of a cross was headed towards goal in injury time, but Corkhill got both hands behind it and that was enough to secure progression to the next stage.
The Stan will travel to old friends Clitheroe – a side they last faced in the FA Cup in 2022 – in the next round of the competition.
Liam Milburn
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1 vs 0 
Liversedge vs Heaton Stannington
The Stan rounded out August with their first ever non-league step 4 win in a warm and wonderful away day at Liversedge.
They almost got themselves into a sticky situation in the opening minutes however, as a lofted back-pass to goalkeeper Callum Corkhill was chased down by the Liversedge attack, but thankfully the resulting move was blocked. This gave the Stan a platform to counter-attack, and great work from Konner Lamb to carry and cross was just missing someone to finish in the box.
This same pattern of play happened several times in the match – with Lamb and Hopper linking up to get the ball into good crossing or shooting positions without finding the net.
But the deadlock was broken midway into the first half, and it was a gift from the Liversedge defence who tried to play out from the back from a goal kick, but panicked goalkeeper Dylan Parkin turned possession over to Louis Anderson. His shot rebounded off the defender, fell to Hopper, who found Lamb in front of him in acres of space to slot home.
The Stan presented the home side with a gift of their own 15 minutes later, when failure to clear our lines from a Liversedge attack allowed Jack Dyche enough of a sight of the ball to steal it from Kailem Beattie’s feet with one touch to bend it beautifully into the net.
Moments later, Liversedge almost went ahead with a shot from the edge of the area, but Corkhill did well to get down low to push it away.
Having scored a magnificent free kick in the Garforth replay, Dan Stephenson will have fancied his chances from 30 yards on the hour mark after he was bundled over on his way towards goal, and while his effort was powerful enough, it was low and wide.
But the Stan wouldn’t wait too much longer for their chance to get ahead again. A Liversedge attack on 64 minutes was broken up by the corner flag, which our players seemed to think was going to result in a free kick against them, but play continued and we used the hesitation to our advantage.
A big punt up field was controlled by Konner Lamb, who used the momentum of the ball to drive out to the right, drag his man with him and then left him for dead as he steamed into the box. Hopper ran almost parallel with him into a scoring position and was there for the cutback across goal, and although his first effort was blocked, the second was a simple tap-in.
The Stan secured the vital first victory six minutes later, as a Kane Evans long throw into the centre was knocked on by a Liversedge defender, straight into the path of Lamb, who was able to play it to substitute Andy Burn. His pass into the box found Hopper in space to hold up and then feed the on-rushing Stephenson to poke home at the near-post.
While Liversedge piled on the pressure to take something from the game, there were no real tests of Corkhill in goal for the remainder of the game, and if anything the Stan could’ve made it even more convincing.
The performances have been there in recent weeks but the 3 points have eluded us, but in this game the win was totally deserved and now that it’s off our back, there’s every hope for more to follow in the coming weeks.
Liam Milburn
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1 vs 3