Grant striker earns Sherwood Colliery a valuable point

The Wood made several changes with Pierrepont, Lobley, Pennington, Duhameau and a returning Marley Grant all drafted in with a number of players unavailable.

The recent habit of conceding early goals continued as the visitors started the game the brighter of the two teams. In the 4th minute Steels took the lead, Alex O’Connor worked hard and won the ball in the penalty area, he played the ball back to Tommy Marshall who curled the ball into the bottom corner for a great finish.

The Wood tried to rally but were struggling to retain possession against a lively Steels team and playing into a strong wind. Despite little in the way of forward opportunities The Wood did manage to keep Steels away from goal and other than a scare form a corner kick reached the break just the one goal in arrears.

As at North Ferriby last week, the second half saw a change of momentum, The Wood having much more of the ball and beginning to carry a threat. On 55 minutes Marley Grant marked his return to the UK with a fine equalising goal, finding the far corner of the net after cutting in from the left wing. Five minutes later Jacob Pearce drew a fine save from Harry Garman in the Steels goal.

The game opened up with both teams looking to force a winning goal. Despite the best efforts both defences remained resolute and the teams had to settle for a point each.

Manager Wayne Savage commented “Obviously to concede an early goal was not ideal, and with enforced changes we took time to settle. The second half saw us be more aggressive and forward thinking and we started to carry a threat. Marley has scored a great goal to earn the point.”