The Hope Valley Football League weekly round-Up report

The draw for the Derbyshire Cup has been made and it confirms that at least two Hope Valley teams will progress to the semi-final of the Divisional Cup North. The league wishes to congratulate Hayfield Firsts, Chapel Town Firsts, Dove Holes Firsts, Bamford and Buxworth who are all looking to win the ultimate prize!

The premier Division kicked off with Bamford facing off against Dronfield FC (Baslow), and a 7-goal thriller awaited all in attendance. Bamford beat Dronfield Woodhouse last week in the Derbyshire Cup, and obviously wanted to complete the double over the town of Dronfield this weekend. They came out on top, winning the fixture 5-2. Tom Ibbeson and Conor Maskrey both picked themselves a brace up, with Luke Woodhouse also finding the net and his 4th goal of the season.

Western Lane was the second destination of the day in the Premier Division as Buxworth Firsts welcomed the 19th Hole, which was a reverse of the previous week's Derbyshire Cup fixture. The same scoreline was recorded come the 90th minute, with Buxworth edging the 19th Hole and picking up all 3 points with a 2-1 victory. Buxworth took a 2-0 lead into half time thanks to goals from Anthony Hunter and Nicky Wood. Dan Iball pulled one back for the 19th Hole, but it wasn’t enough to see the travelling team take anything back to Buxton.

Dronfield Woodhouse were looking to build some form this weekend and would need to dispose of the unbeaten Chapel Town Firsts in order to do so. Getting anything out of a fixture against Chapel Firsts is a huge task for any team in the county, and this was only substantiated further as Chapel ran riot on the day, defeating Dronfield 8-2. A 4-0 half time lead for Chapel gave Dronfield an almost impossible task in the second 45, with Josh Wood and Josh Edwards both grabbing a goal. Lewis Coates added to his impressive tally in the first half, scoring 2 to complete a wonderful 45 minutes for Chapel. Tyler Arnfield made it 5 in the 51st minute, before Dronfield’s Sam Smith responded 9 minutes later. Tyson Elwin made it 6-1 before Josh Edwards got his second of the day, with Lewis Coates Completing his hat-trick 1 minute later. Dean Webster-Smith got another consolation goal for Dronfield, but it wasn’t enough to stop the might of Chapel.

Furness Vale and Hayfield Firsts were up next, with the sleeping giants of Furness in desperate need of a good result. Hayfield have been almost faultless all season, and Furness knew that even the smallest mistake could cost them immensely against this rampant Hayfield side. The honours were shared come the final whistle, as Harry Wyatt and Jake Walsh both grabbed a goal a piece to secure a point for Hayfield in a 2-2 draw. Jose Carlos Da Silva Pinto Junior was yet again the hero for Furness, who scored another brace which will provide the team with some great momentum going forward.

Tideswell United made a statement last week by defeating Furness Vale and would need an equally impressive performance this weekend if they were to claw anything away from their fixture against last season's champions, Dove Holes Firsts. This good run of form on display from Tideswell only continued, as they got themselves a vital point in a tense 2-2 draw in the cathedral of the peak! Patryk Piec and Bransie Worwood secured the point for Tideswell, with Tom Forder and Aaron Hodkinson ensuring Dove didn’t lose two league games on the bounce.

The A Division saw 3 fixtures played, with Hayfield Reserves’ game against Youlgrave the only postponement of the weekend across both divisions. Calver welcomed Hathersage, with both sides looking to close the gap between themselves and league leaders, Dove Holes Reserves. Calver eventually got the win, as they defeated Hathersage 4-0. Ayr Barker knew other players were closing in on his scoring record and decided enough was enough, grabbing another hattrick which secures his place at the top of the golden boot table for another week. Michael Judge was the scorer of Calvers 4th, which leaves them just 2 points behind Dove Holes Reserves who have a game in hand over Calver.

Chapel Town Reserves know how tight it is at the top of the table currently and would need to beat Buxworth Reserves to remain within touching distance of top spot. A close game saw Chapel come out on top with a 5-4 win. Nathaniel Oldfield and Owen Berry both got a goal each for Chapel, with Jacob O’Donnell stealing the headlines with his hattrick that ultimately won Chapel the game. Buxworth fought hard, with Nathan Hearsum, Nic Howe, Ben Stanton and Anthony Williamson each grabbing a goal. It wasn’t enough to get any points, but Buxworth will take some positives away from the fixture after a solid performance against one of the league title favourites.

The final fixture of the day saw Blazing Rag make the short journey to Dove Holes to face their reserves team who are the current league leaders. Dove showcased exactly why they are the league leaders, beating Blazing Rag 7-1 and securing top spot for another week. Jake Keeling and Jack Shenton both hit the back of the net for Dove, with Ryan Bradd scoring another 2 goals after his impressive run of form. Cole Hamilton was the man of the hour, or 90 minutes in this case, with his hattrick confirming Doves impressive win.

Hayfields Joe Armstrong remains top of the Premier Divisions golden boot race after the first week in recent memory where he didn’t score. This can be excused however, with Joe clearly allowing his team mates a chance this week! Dove Holes Reserves Ryan Bradd would have taken top spot in the A Division golden boot race had Calver’s Ayr Barker not scored another hattrick, which sees the blues frontman remain at the top for another week at least.