Droylsden keep cup dream alive

DROYLSDEN’S FA Cup adventure continues after another night of controversy at Chesterfield in their rescheduled second-round tie which ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw.

The fog, which caused the earlier abandonment, had cleared, but surely there won’t be two more extraordinary goals in this year’s competition than the final two at Saltergate which are certain candidates for a future ‘What Happened Next?’ quiz question.

The goal, which saw the Spireites regain a 2-1 lead in the 78th minute, sparked an almighty fracas on the pitch and sidelines involving players and officials.

Droylsden’s former Athletic keeper Craig Mawson had thrown the ball out of play when his team-mate Carl Lamb went down injured.

When play resumed they expected, in the spirit of the game, that the ball be returned to Mawson. But after receiving the throw-in, veteran striker Jack Lester lobbed the keeper from near the touchline.

And when referee Andy Woolmer signalled a goal, pandemonium broke out as the Droylsden players could not believe what was unravelling before their eyes.

When order was restored and Woolmer consulted his assistants as well as both managers, the upshot was that Chesterfield manager and former Athletic player Lee Richardson instructed his players to allow Droylsden to score unopposed from the kick-off.

Central defender Steve Halford received the ball and jogged half the length of the field before scoring as home keeper Trevor Carson stood and watched.

Droylsden’s Grotton-based manager Dave Pace thought justice was done, saying: “The letter of the law states the goal stands, but Lee did the right thing - the only thing he could do - because it was cheating.

“I wasn’t sure at one stage whether Lee was going to allow us to score, which is why the exchanges became heated, but it was only to be expected. I apologised to him afterwards.

“The same thing happened to us in a match at Worcester City last year, and I made our players stand still to allow Worcester to score in identical circumstances.”

Richardson had no qualms about the decision he made, even though the draw by the part-timers increased pressure on him, with fans chanting for him to be sacked at the end.

He said: “I cannot condone what Jack did and only he will know if he meant to score as we haven’t spoken about it.

“We cannot let things like that happen. It is against the spirit of the game and the Droylsden people were understandably unhappy.”

Jamie Ward gave Chesterfield a 31st minute lead, but Droylsden drew level early in the second half through a delightful header from Alex Brown.

Former Athletic striker Matthew Tipton and Lamb had clear-cut chances which could have given Droylsden victory, but at the death Chesterfield could have sneaked a win as Ward was denied by a super save from Mawson and Lester fired wide when he ought to have hit the target.

The replay is at the Butchers Arms next Tuesday when Droylsden will be bidding to become the seventh non-league team to reach the third round of the FA Cup, the highest number clubs to have progressed that far for 31 years.