The Duke Of Wellington FC 1 vs 1 The Fountain FC

The Duke Of Wellington hosted The Fountain at Delves Lane Community Association Pitch on 15 March 2026, with kick-off at 10:30am.

The Fountain FC lined up in a 4-1-2-3 formation, a setup designed to balance defensive solidity with attacking width and midfield control. Damo Freeman was placed in goal once again, while the back four consisted of Brandon Fitzgerald, Lewis Sullivan, Jonny Thirlaway, and Nathan Sterling. Ian Johnstone made his return, sitting in front of the back four, while the two central defenders, Lewis and Joe Currie, focused on maintaining a strong defensive core. The front three comprised of Favour Ekomemen making his return as central striker flanked by the two wingers, Scott Thompson and Rowan Latimer, whose roles included stretching the opposition defence and creating scoring opportunities.

Sat on the bench were Andy Gowland, Owen Hardy, Callum Collins, and Similoluwa Afilaka, making his return after serving a 3 match ban.

The match unfolded with both teams showing intent but cautiousness, resulting in a balanced first half. The referee, Barry Mudd, maintained control throughout, ensuring a fair and flowing game. However, it would be the Duke that opened up the score sheet in the Medomsley road derby with a corner, swung into the centre, where it was met by the Duke, headered towards goal and deflected in off a Jonny Thirlaway leg, gifting the Duke an early 1-0 advantage.

With the wind against them, the Fountain dug their heels in and waited out the storm for the remainer of the first half, with no teams creating any real opportunities. Just before the whistle blew for half-time, a challenge left Brandon Fitzgerald injured, requiring to come off the pitch as Andy Gowland replaced him at right-back.

The half-time whistle blew and the scoreline stood at 1-0, reflecting a competitive but subtle opening 45 minutes.

The second half saw The Fountain FC begin to play football, creating good chances along the deck while the Duke were put onto the back foot, however, the Duke would counter with chances of their own, but not enough to worry the Fountain.

A few more substitutions would be made, as Simi made his return to the team, taking over from Joe Currie in the middle after a tackle left the big lad injured. Shortly after, another change would be introduced to the side as Owen Hardy came on in place of Scott Thompson in right attacking.

With only 10 minutes remaining, the Duke put everything they had into attack, but were suddenly caught on the counter attack, as Lewis Currie took the ball, skimming past three Duke players on his charge for goal, before playing the ball into Rowan Latimer's feet, who takes a touch and hits a drilled shot past the keeper and into the back of the net, equalising for the Fountain with his first goal for the team.

The final few minutes of the game began to get scrappy, with a bad tackle by the Duke captain seeing the man get a yellow card, shortly followed up by a bad challenge by Simi Afilaka, who also received a yellow card for the infringement.

With the 90 minutes up, the whistle blew on a well contested game that ended in a 1-1 draw between the two teams. Lewis Sullivan was named man of the Match, recognised for his influential performance that stood out amid the evenly matched sides. His contributions were pivotal in both defensive and offensive phases, exemplifying the qualities expected from a key player in such a tactical setup.

Ultimately, The Fountain FC and The Duke Of Wellington FC shared the points in a hard-fought encounter at Delves Lane, each side taking something from the fixture as they look ahead to their upcoming challenges.