DANNY CRITCHLOW’S late winner at Dronfield Town in April 2016 will live long in the memories of those connected with Hemsworth Miners Welfare.
The half-hit striker – whose injury turned out to be more serious than first thought – completed the fight-back to give the Wells a 2-1 win and more importantly seal promotion to the NCEL Premier Division for the first time in the club’s history.
The title was won a few days later in farcical circumstances when Lincoln Moorlands Railway folded.
Promotion completed three years of hard work by Wayne Benn and his coaching staff and players. Over three years, Hemsworth were transformed from a run-of-the-mill Division One to one of the best sides across the two NCEL Divisions.
In the latest ‘My Greatest Game’ Benn remembers the Dronfield game and goes into detail about his methods which enabled Hemsworth to win promotion.
The Teams
Dronfield Town: Booth, Morley, Butler (captain), Willis, Hague, Fairweather, Owen (Anthony 78), Mosley (Akhaven-Hezavem 65), Mawbey, Bebbington, Hoyland (Darlow 81). Subs unused: Gray, Dickinson.
Hemsworth Miners Welfare: Snaith, Wilson, Clark, Swift (Bucknall 84), Viggars, Danville, Connolly (Blair 65), Yates (captain), Law, Jones (Critchlow 61), Kelsey. Sub unused: Hayward
Referee: Mr Mehdi Najefi
Attendance: 67
“I think we made a conscious effort to try and replicate some of the stuff we had done at Bradford (Park Avenue) on-and-off-the-pitch such as the relationship between the fans and players. It would take too long to go through where we started and where we ended, but when we (myself and Andy Hayward) went into Hemsworth the team was struggling and there was a lot of young players in the side.
So it was a process. It wasn’t just a process on-the-pitch, it was a process off-the-pitch as well. The football club at Hemsworth is run by a brilliant small group of loyal volunteers, committee members who work close to the bone like volunteers at all Non League clubs. The crowds were a little lower in the early doors, but as soon as we started to pick up and build a good team, the crowds increased. The bus journeys were always fantastic. The one thing me and Andy Hayward have always tried to do is have really good team spirit in any dressing room or any team we manage. We built that at Hemsworth.
“We finished third the season before we won promotion and we finished only three points behind Pontefract who finished second. That was without a playing budget as well. We had put together a brilliant young team and we had done ever so well. In the following season which was the promotion season we just knew we were ready to go forward. There was a little budget in place which attracted one-or-two new players in. The crowds increased and we were playing brilliant football and blowing teams away. You could sense something good was going to happen. I think everybody wanted to be part of it. We didn’t put buses on for every away game because of the financial aspect to it, but every-time we put a bus on it was always full of players and topped up with fans. The game before Dronfield was the Hall Road away trip and there wasn’t a spare seat on the bus. There was 52 people on it travelling to Hall Road because they knew it was an important game. But as I said myself and Chick (Andy Hayward) wanted to re-create something we had experienced in our playing days. We weren’t just trying to build a team on the pitch, we were trying to build a Football Club and I can look back and genuinely say with lots of people’s help that we did. We built a Football Club up to what it is today. It is a fantastic Football Club which has only gone in one direction in the last seven or eight years. It has been progression after progression, but that’s not just down to me and Chick and the players, it is down to a lot of people’s hard work and dedication behind the scenes, as well as the fans who pay their money. Like Bradford (Park Avenue), we had a vocal fan-base and a massive away following. At some away games we’d have 50 or 60 fans there, sometimes more than the home support. Fans will follow you if you are enthusing them. We were because we were producing on the pitch.
“We were playing exciting football and scoring loads of goals. We were full of local lads which always helps. We cast our net wider over-time and we did bring players in from further afield, but because there were local lads in the side, it meant parents, grandparents came to watch. The clubhouse was regularly busy and at 8pm it was still full after many home games. It was something I had never seen before. I have only fond memories from Hemsworth and I’m just pleased we could play a part in its history and give them a foundation to push on from.
“The year we got promoted we had a brilliant side. Primarily we set up as 4-4-2 all season. One of my management styles is that we don’t change for the opposition we are playing. We back ourselves and we play with a formation that suits the players. I think we played 4-4-2 in every single game that season.
“We had Chris Snaith in goal who was a young lad and a good goalkeeper. The back four was obviously very young, but they were quick and had ability so we were strong in defence. Luke Danville obviously came in and added a little bit of experience and a physical presence. He had won promotion previously. Three of the back four in terms of Adam Wilson, Harry Viggars and Cameron Clark were all products of the under 19s and probably would have been 18 or 19 at the time when we won the league.
“Across the midfield with Swifty (Lee Swift) and Jason Yates you had plenty of energy, matched with ability. Swifty was quick and had a good engine. Yatesy bombed all over the pitch and his fitness levels were off the scale. It was ideal because that’s how we wanted to play. We wanted to play with tons of energy. We wanted to press high and win the ball back high up the pitch. Jason was a big leader in that way.
“You had pace out-wide in Nash (Connolly) and (Shane) Kelsey. It is difficult to pin down one thing that got us to where we went, but the signing of Shane Kelsey that summer (2015) was massive for us. You knew what kind of quality you were getting and the experience he would bring. We thought luck was going to be against us as he broke his foot in the first pre-season friendly and he missed the first six weeks of the season. We still managed to get off to a good start without him, but as soon as he came back into the side you could see his quality, know-how and experience. I think he scored 18 or 19 goals and probably got 30 or 40 assists. Nash was scoring goals at the other side and was a huge threat with his pace.
“Then you had Billy Law up front. Billy Law was a huge fans’ favourite. He was brave as a lion, good in the air, held the ball up well. That night at Dronfield Sam Jones will have probably played slightly off Billy in a number 10 role. The reason was because Critch was badly injured which we didn’t know at the time. Danny Critchlow coming in during October (2015) was also a big factor. He got 15 goals in his first seven or eight games for us which is crazy. He was on fire.
“We had a winning mentality and a great attitude. A lot of the players we are talking about could have and should have been playing much higher and on more money. We were very lucky at Hemsworth that players were always loyal and one reasons is because of the environment we tried to create. The Football Club and the fans, the volunteers and the committee were a reason too. Once you walk into that club, it grabs hold of you. The amount of times players were approached and could have doubled their money elsewhere, but stayed was ridiculous.
“The other significant point is the number of young players we had. Josh Bucknall was 17, Nash and were Adam were around 19. Luke Pickering was only a kid and played a few times that year. Corey Dixon was the same. There were six or seven lads from the under 19s that we were all coming through at the same time. Darcy Pugh played some games. In some ways, the thing was built around under 19s players coming through and I need praise Shaun Pugh because he did a brilliant job with that under 19s because when players were called upon they were ready to make the step-up to the first team. Nobody ever let themselves down.
Wayne Benn’s interview in 2016 after the Dronfield game
“All the hard work led to the Dronfield game and in the first half we were rubbish, to be frank. We certainly seemed edgy and nervy. The surface wasn’t great and Dronfield wanted to spoil the party. You have to give credit to them as they nullified us. I can’t remember their goal (a free kick). It gave them encouragement.
“I think I went in at half-time and calmed people down. We had some strong words. It was clear we were going to win the league because we were so far in front of everybody, but you wanted to get it done quickly so you could relax and try and enjoy it. I just said ‘your standards have been so good all season, we can’t let it slip now’.
“There was a good response to the team-talk and it was typical of Jason with the way he set up the second goal (for Billy Law). He had an excellent season individually and he galvanised us many times.
“We got back into it with plenty of time to play. I think the messages were be patient and to pass the ball. I can’t remember us playing too well, but I know there was wave after wave of pressure. We just had that will and desire to get the job done. Because we were going down the slope, it was difficult for Dronfield to get out too. It seemed like a matter of time before we scored
“I remember Danny’s goal being quite a good one. Shane who took the throw-in in the build-up livened us up, alongside Dom (Blair) and Critch who had been brought on. For his goal, Danny showed a good bit of ability and strength and it was a good finish. He had come off at Emley a couple of weeks before and it looked a bad injury so we expected him being out for a few weeks. But he declared himself for Dronfield, but he hadn’t done much rehab and we didn’t feel he was fit enough to start. We put him on the bench because he could always score.
“We finished the game quite comfortably. There were quite a good number of fans there and it was emotional at the end because it was a culmination of hard over a number of years. A lot of the Crapper family were there and I think the memory of Mark (Crapper) carried us through for quite a while. I hadn’t been working there long when Mark passed away, but you could see how people felt about him and his influence on the club. We never forgot that and we always mentioned that and the fact that without him we wouldn’t have a Football Club. He was very much a part of our thought processes.
“For me we were one of the best teams to win the Division. We were heads and shoulders above everyone. Don’t get me wrong, we had a few Houdini acts. In both Grimsby games we were 2-0 down and we 3-2. I am bias and I know Knaresborough topped 100 points, but we would have topped 100 it hadn’t been for the Lincoln debacle. We had three points taken off us and the day we should have gone there to win the league, we had two buses and over one hundred fans traveling there. When we turned up for the buses at 11.30am we got a call from Lincoln saying they couldn’t raise a team. The game was off and they resigned from the league.
“What typified the club at the time is that instead of sulking and thinking we had been robbed of the chance of lifting the trophy and having a really great day, everybody just stayed in the clubhouse. All the fans were in fancy dress and they ended up having a mascot race on the pitch. We were celebrating with champagne because the league basically told us we had the league. We ended up staying in there for hours and hours. That was players, management, fans, volunteers and committee members. Everyone was together and it was sensational.”
Wayne Benn was interviewed by James Grayson