Shaw Lane captain Sam Denton scored the winner for his side in the 1-0 victory over Heanor
Captain and defender Sam Denton played a key role at both ends after scoring the vital winner for title-chasing Shaw Lane Aquaforce in the 1-0 victory over Heanor Town in Barnsley.
Denton scored his second goal in four days with a powerful free kick which was enough for Aquaforce to keep their Toolstation NCEL Premier Division title bid alive.
Aquaforce had to dig deep as Heanor threw the proverbial kitchen sink at them in the last half-hour.
The visitors will be disappointed they were unable to equalise after a series of late chances.
The pressure was on Shaw Lane to match leaders Worksop Town after news filtered through at Shaw Lane that Worksop had won 4-2 at Thackley.
Aquaforce, whose new stand was used for the first time, were kicking off at 4.45pm to host the third game of the final day of the NCEL Easter GroundHop weekend.
The groundhoppers were treated to the highest quality match of the three days.
Worksop fans will have been refreshing Twitter every minute praying for a Heanor win and they must have felt confident after a positive start for the visitors.
Shaw Lane goalkeeper Ian Deakin – who was ironically a player for Heanor until Tuesday afternoon – had plenty to do.
Nathan Benger rattled his crossbar with a thunderous effort and that was the warning that Heanor would not roll over.
Benger also wasted an excellent chance at the back-post, minutes before Aquaforce started the screw.
Shaw Lane’s fabulous new stand was used for the first time
The groundhoppers were treated to Desmond the Duck’s marvellous pre-match dance. Now a ritual at Shaw Lane
It was a tight affair at Shaw Lane
Gary Stohrer strikes for goal
Jason Fisher was unable to prevent Sam Denton’s free kick from entering the net
Ian Deakin, who left Heanor on Tuesday to sign for Shaw Lane, played against his previous club
Over 300 people attended the fixture which kicked off at 4.45pm
Lee Morris reacts in disbelief after missing a one-on-one late-on. Fortunately Shaw Lane held to keep the pressure on Worksop.
Returning predatory striker Danny Frost produced a great save out of Jason Fisher and then Lee Morris had the rebound attempt cleared off-the-line.
A free kick then awarded on the edge of the box presented Shaw Lane with their chance to score. Fresh from his thunderbolt in the superb win at Athersley, Denton looked confident and the defender drilled the ball low and hard and into Fisher’s right-hand bottom corner.
That proved to be the only goal of the game, but both sides had a number of close shaves in the second half.
Morris missed several chances, including a sitter in the dying minutes after a misplaced back-pass from a Heanor defender.
That miss did not come back to haunt him and neither did Shaw Lane need the second goal in the end.
Shaw Lane supporters must have felt their nerves jangle at times in the second half. Jay Cooper’s seemed goal-bound until it was cleared off the line.
Last season’s 50-goal hero Kieran Debrower also left Deakin stranded with an ambitious long range effort which also just flashed past the post.
From some angles of the ground, Nick Hall’s long range blast appeared to be sailing for the top corner. The midfielder was unlucky to see his magnificent strike just flash wide.
Shaw Lane did defend extremely well with Denton and Stefan Holt leading the back four exceptionally. Steve Istead, who won the plaudits for his performance at Athersley, was also magnificent.
As the final whistle went, there was plenty of cheers as Shaw Lane celebrated a superb backs-to-the-wall win.
Shaw Lane Aquaforce manager Craig Elliott:
“It was very tense, but it is an absolutely great result.
“We had to dig in and those are the type of performances that win you leagues.
“We knew Heanor would come strong because they are a good team and we handled. To get a clean sheet and win is fantastic.
“We had a couple of chances and so did they in the first half, but it was two good teams at it.
“It was two evenly-matched teams and it could have gone either way.”
Shaw Lane Aquaforce: Deakin, Stohrer, O’Brien, Foster (Thornhill 70), Holt, Denton (captain), Istead, Darley, Morris (Fox 86), Frost, White (Eyles 80). Sub unused: Patterson.
Heanor Town: Fisher, Marriott, Shaw (captain), S Gregory (Naylor 89), J Gregory (Booth 55). Hawes, Cooper, Hall, Benger, Debrower, Bowler (Stryzewski 55). Subs unused: Andrews, Baker.
Referee: Ian Johnston
Ref Rating: 7/10
Attendance: 344
Man of the match: Sam Denton (Shaw Lane Aquaforce)