Stamford 1 Market Drayton Town 1
The match against Stamford and Market Drayton on Saturday resulted in a draw, causing the Daniels to slip one place into 12th in the league.
Stamford sit only a point behind Market Drayton after the 1-1 draw at the Vic Couzens Stadium during an ice cold Saturday afternoon.
The game began with Market Drayton starting the strongest and repeatedly trying to break the offside trap with balls over the top. After 4 minutes the offside trap was broken when a ball over the top was pounced on by Martyn Davies who saw his shot excellently saved by Chris Wright only for the ball to land at the feet of Marc Stallard who tapped in from close range.
Stebbo heads for goal....
Stamford responded well and the remainder of the half was an equal contest with Lee Ellison trying to take command of the midfield for Stamford. Stamford’s attempt to re-gain control was dealt a blow when an injury to Phil Stebbing saw him replaced in the 42nd minute.
The second half was a different story with Stamford gaining midfield control and dominating long periods of play although Market Drayton still looked dangerous on the rare occasions they threatened the Stamford goal. In the 71st minute a superb ball from Nick Jackson split the Market Drayton defence and as Danny Cotton ran onto the ball he coolly slid it to the right of the out stretched keeper, to the cheers of the Stamford fans.
Celebrating the equaliser!!!
Stamford then went in search of the winner with man of the match Lee Ellison pulling the strings in midfield , but were unable to break down the Market Drayton defence who were grateful in the end to hold out for a draw.
The match however ended on a soar note with the sending off of Jamie Haynes in the 89th min following an off the ball incident.
Speaking after the match Stamford’s manager, Tuncay Korkmaz, said: “I’m a bit disappointed really. We deserved to win. We played reasonably in the first half and were the better team in the second half.” Admitting Stamford missed several chances to score, he also added: “A draw is the least that we deserved.”
The Daniels have a busy schedule ahead, as on Tuesday they will be travelling to Carlton to take on the Nottinghamshire side, who they lost 3-1 to back in December. The following Saturday, Stamford will take on high fliers Sheffield FC at home, who are only a point away from becoming joint top of the league. Stamford hope that a win against Carlton will push them further up the league, as they are only 6 points away from reaching the play offs, and most importantly, earning that desperately sought after promotion. There are 15 matches remaining this season, so if The Daniels produce good results over the up coming matches, the chance of returning to the top flight still remains.
Farida Zeynalova
Starting XI: C Wright, R Watson, N Jackson, M Chamberlain (C), P Malone, A Weston, D Cotton, L Ellison, T Battersby, P Stebbing (L Beeson 42), D Cobb
Subs: B Sedgemore, T Whitby, C Rook, L Beeson, L Hook
Attendance: 165
Sponsors’ Man Of The Match: Lee Ellison
Tunge with Match Reporter - Farida Zeynalova
