Wakefield AFC back to winning ways against 10-man Dronfield Town

Dronfield had been fourth at the start of play, themselves having lost only one league game – also to Campion – while Wakefield went into the match in sixth, looking to avoid three consecutive defeats for the first time since their formative season in 2019-20, writes Austin Ainsworth.

Wakefield were buoyed by the return of key players Jock Curran and Billy Mole, while debuts for centre-back Kristijonas Joksas and midfielder Jaydan Sandhu added steel and silk respectively to the away side.

Daniel Hernandez, man of the match in Wakefield’s last game, continued in a somewhat unfamiliar central-attacking role in the ongoing absence of top scorer Jake Morrison.

The home side made a strong start and looked to counter Wakefield’s signature possession game by pressing high and penning the away side in.

It worked for all of seven minutes, with Dronfield seeing a couple of fleeting glimpses of goal from distance, before a straight red card for defender Michael Fereday seemingly swung the game in Wakefield’s favour.

There could be no complaints about the referee’s decision, after Mole latched on to a slick counter-attacking move and rushed in towards goal. Having beaten the offside trap and, crucially, the last man, Mole would almost certainly have given the away side the lead when one-on-one with the keeper. However, he was hacked from behind just on the edge of the area, leaving Wakey with a free-kick and a man advantage.

Mole’s free-kick and subsequent rebound were well blocked and, credit to Dronfield, they more than held firm for the remainder of the half.

In general play at least, it would have been hard to decipher which of the two teams had fewer men, while Wakefield actually had their goalkeeper Lloyd Horridge to thank for keeping the scores level when he expertly tipped a wicked free-kick over the bar not long after the red card incident.

Strangely, Wakefield struggled to exploit their advantage in the first half and were limited to possession mainly in their own half.

Notwithstanding their difficulty in imposing themselves on the game, it was, however, Wakefield who had the best sniffs at goal in the opening period through quick counter-attacks.

The best of those chances came through the usual suspect Mole, first when he headed over at the near post and then minutes later after a barnstorming run when his shot was diverted by the stretching toes of the recovering Dronfield defender.

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Wakefield, with the half-time addition of Owen Kirman’s pace and trickery, were a different proposition in the second period and began to dominate proceedings.

Dronfield fell further and further back, with Mole continuing to create and find space close to goal as he was unlucky not to grab his fourth goal of the season from several good chances.

The inevitable Wakefield goal did eventually come from captain Cory Woodward, when he latched on to a pinpoint, in-swinging Mason Rubie corner to head home his second goal of the season.

The goal worked to both relax Wakefield and dampen Dronfield’s fight, as Wakey continued to dominate possession and constructed a succession of free-flowing attacking moves.

Sandhu, Wakefield’s eventual man of the match on his debut for the club, became the heart of all that was good about the away side’s play in the second half and claimed both a goal and assist in the final 30 minutes of a fine performance.

Just after the hour mark the aforementioned number eight, initially with his back to goal, received a drilled pass from Woodward who had stepped out of defence.

Sandhu, demonstrating all of his strength, balance and ball-control, feinted one way and then the other, as he lost his man and worked an opening 20 yards out.

With the ball at his right foot, he unleashed a venomous shot that rose all the way to the proverbial postage stamp of the helpless Dronfield goalkeeper’s goal.

Almost straight from kick-off, having just shown his skill and goal-threat, Sandhu then looked to complete his exhibition by showcasing great guile and vision when he set Rubie up for a well deserved goal with an outside of the boot through ball that was as audacious as it was accurate.

With work still to do Rubie, having timed his run from the left to perfection, found all of the requisite placement and power to drill his shot across the face of goal and into the far corner to ease Wakefield to a 3-0 victory.

Newly promoted Wakefield continue to prove that they belong at this level in what has been a fine start to life in the Northern Counties East League.

Aside from the margin of victory against a strong, albeit numerically disadvantaged Dronfield side, Wakefield’s overall quality of play in the second half should work wonders for confidence levels.

It certainly puts them back in a strong league position, with the result boosting them back up to fourth, one place above defeated Dronfield.

They now look to continue their momentum in their next fixture, back home at Post Office Road to 19th-placed Worsbrough Bridge Athletic on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.