Bradford District cup derby sees Steeton lose at the last

Both sides play their home games at Marley, but Steeton were the designated away team for this Macron Cup first round clash.

And the ‘visitors’ were indebted to James Catlow early on, who made a stunning diving save to keep his side level.

Steeton began to get on top thereafter, with Toby Jeffrey having a shot well blocked and Josh Coe seeing a header drift just wide.

Route One then saw a penalty appeal turned down, before testing Catlow from long range.

New boy Ezio de Santis was looking bright for Steeton, and he forced a save from opposition keeper Hagie Damba a few minutes before the break.

On the stroke of half-time though, the Chevrons took the lead, as Jake Townsend took the ball down on the edge of the box, cut inside the centre-half, and fired the ball in at Damba’s near post.

Steeton looked most likely to double their lead at the start of the second half, de Santis denied by a great block, but instead it was Route One who levelled on the hour mark.

Anees Younis’ free-kick took a wicked deflection off the wall, wrong-footing Catlow and finding the net.

Though Jack Lynn scuffed an effort wide for Steeton in response, Route One began to dominate, inspired by their equaliser.

They fired an effort off the post midway through the second half and had a period where they looked by far the more likely of the two sides to score the winner.

But Steeton still posed a threat and Damba made a sensational save from a shot he knew little about with just over 10 minutes to go.

Route One hit back, and Steeton’s Josh Kaine was forced to clear the ball off the line to keep his side level.

Catlow’s sensational save from Younis with four minutes to go meant the game looked as if it was heading for penalties, but that only provided a temporary reprieve for Steeton.

A goal in the sixth minute of added time from Zakariya Khan decided the game in Route One’s favour, as they advanced into the second round at Steeton’s expense.