‘Dark Day in Derbyshire’

On an unsurprisingly cold August evening at Gamesley, Whaley were looking forward to this hotly contested local derby. Over the 90 minutes this soon turned to despair.

Whaley started sharply and scored early on after a long flighted ball from Gemmell was finished by Hammy to put the visitors 1-0 up. This was then followed by a poor first half display that saw Gamesley score 3 unanswered goals. Gamesley’s danger man Dewhurst was on form as ever and from a long free kick that was headed out to the edge of the box he volleyed home to equalise after 20 minutes. The following 2 goals left Whaley frustrated with their defensive display as Burns and Dewhurst scored in quick succession to make it 3-1. Bridge did have a chance to go in 3-2 down at the break but after good play down the left the ball squared for Butler was smashed against the post from inside the box.

The second half didn’t get much better for the bridge. After managing to get the score back to 3-2 with Whaley’s best move of the match from the combination of the front 3 Burgess, Dwolitka & Burgess it was the older of the brothers who slotted home inside the 6 yard box after a squared ball. With Whaley looking to mount a charge for the equaliser they were halted by a Stevenson header on the break to make it 4-2. The crushing blow was then dealt by Dewhurst as he completed his hat trick with another soft goal, 5-2. A late consolation from Kennerly with 5 minutes to go meant the game finished 5-3 to the hosts.

A dark day indeed for the bridge who haven’t conceded as many goals for over a decade and will be looking to bounce back against Denton at home on Saturday.

Starting Line-up – Tattersall, Bailey, Seetree, Brotherton, Gemmell, Leaver, Sutton, Butler, G Burgess, J Burgess, Dwolitka. Subs – Gregory, Kennerly