Sleaford Town made it two wins on the bounce, beating 10-man Staveley Miners Welfare 3-0 thanks to goals from Lewis Rowland, Ben Ashall and Andy Whalen.

Manager Matt Evans made two changes to the side that beat Gedling Miners Welfare last week, with captain Jonathan Timmins replacing the absent James Twigg, and Lewis Greenfield starting in place of the missing Benji Zalewski.

The first 30 minutes of the match were slow, with neither side creating many chances. Sleaford topped the possession charts and dominated the ball but ultimately failed to create. However, with their first real chance of the match, Sleaford took the lead. After 36 minutes, a free kick from Joe Wilkinson was switched into the path of Riley Wilkinson. The winger’s shot was saved by Harrison Torr, but the rebound fell kindly to Rowland, who placed his shot into the corner of the net. Staveley tried to respond, but the Sleaford defence dealt comfortably with everything thrown at them, neutralising the Trojans’ attack. That brought the end of the first half, with Sleaford turning their possession into a one-goal advantage at the break.

At the start of the second half, Sleaford were awarded a penalty. Rowland was found in behind, and as he went to chip the keeper, Torr brought him down. Ashall stepped up and coolly converted from 12 yards, doubling Sleaford’s advantage. A few minutes later, Wilkinson came close to adding a third with two separate chances — first when he was played through on goal, only to be denied by a good save from Torr, and then with a free kick from 20 yards that narrowly missed the target.

Sleaford silenced any question of a comeback when Whalen netted a third just after the hour mark. A cross from Wilkinson on the wing found the striker, who scored his first goal of the season — a deserved third for the Greens.

Tempers then flared. Bobbie White saw red in the 69th minute after a heavy tackle on Greenfield sparked a tussle between both sets of players. With White deemed to have swung a punch at Ben Ashall, the referee had no choice but to send him off. The dismissal neutralised the game as Sleaford comfortably saw out the win, leaving Derbyshire with all three points, back-to-back victories, and three successive clean sheets.

With the Greens celebrating another strong result, attention now turns to Tuesday night, when they host Retford FC at Eslaforde Park. Kick-off is set for 7:45pm.

Words by Finley Smithson