SHEFFIELD FC 3 V 0 PENISTONE CHURCH FC NORTHERN COUNTIES EAST PREMIER DIVISION 8th NOVEMBER 2025

 

My 9th game of the season and  a short trip down the road to the home of Sheffield FC for another Sheffield postcode derby game, Sheffield were going into this game on the back of 4 drawn games whereas Church had won their last game although it had been their first win in 5,Sheffield started fast and within 20 mins were two goals up, i had positioned myself on the halfway line with a pint in my hand and unfortunately a group of "Monday morning managers" decided to position themselves at the side of me, the usual Sunday morning Pub team who talk a good game and are vocal at every pass, kick, decision made, so vocal in fact that the referee came in for quite a lot of abuse  when a tackle occurred in front of us and the poor Penistone lad who had committed said tackle got a booking for it purely through this bunch of dickheads shouting abuse and the ref thinking it was the player. yep that good that you're stood watching rather then playing! anyway on 40 minutes or so Sheffield went 3-0 up and again went close just before the half time whistle.

Second half and I'd pretty much had enough of the "Pub Team" voicing their expert opinions on the game so i stood further down towards the corner flag and had a chat to a lad who i know from a lot of away days back in the 80s, like me he got totally disillusioned with the modern game and much prefers watching non league especially Sheffield and  Dronfield town mainly as they are both within 10 minutes walking distance from home. Bit of a different game this half as Church went all out to get back in the game, the poor lad who took a Yellow card in the 1st half was still quite lively and probably their best player today. with a few minutes to go Church hit the bar with an outstanding shot from at least 30 yards out which rebounded out straight into the hands of the Sheffield keeper in a packed penalty area, overall a good result for Sheffield but i thought Church were a bit unlucky in the first 20 minutes of the game and the score line didn't really give a true reflection of them.

The season ended with Sheffield missing out on a promotion and quite a lot of changes have occurred with the club since early spring, when the Divisions were announced  in July Sheffield had been moved to the United Counties premier division from the NCEL which didn't go down to well with the powers that be at Club!