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Sheffield FC suffered late heartbreak as Pontefract Collieries picked up all three points in the dying minutes.

Sheffield FC started the brighter of the two sides, notching two corners in quick succession only minutes in, but Pontefract’s defence remained firm, dealing with the latter by clearing their lines.

Club continued to be the more threatening in the opening 10 minutes, but a lack of precision with the final ball limited Sheffield from carving open the home side’s back-line.

With Pontefract’s first opportunity of the game, left-winger Mikey Dunn weaved in-and-out of the Sheffield defence, before dispatching a strike low and arrowing towards the bottom corner, but Mikey Roxburgh equalled the effort with a brilliant reflex save.

With 20 minutes on the clock, the first goal was notched, with Sheffield FC making their early pressure count. A sweetly-hit Stephen Brogan corner on his return to the starting side found Connor Cutts lurking inside the box, and the Sheffield centre-back smashed it into the back of the net.

Much to the Pontefract contingent of fans in the Hunters Stadium’s dismay, Sheffield continued in their groove, but the home side soon broke through after Louie Charlton had the ball threaded through to him, and he slotted it underneath Roxburgh to bring the score level.

Sheffield still looked promising, despite the set-back, but went into interval level.

Opportunities had depleted for either side early on in the second stanza, but a golden opportunity for Pontefract in the 57th minute as Bailey Thompson was found by Chorlton with acres of space inside the box, but he steered a free header wide of the mark.

Chances continued to be far-and-few for both teams, even with both Sheffield and Pontefract rolling the dice with substitutions.

With the game seemingly petering out, Pontefract got themselves an opportunity in the dying embers, with Mikey Dunn doing well to make it through a packed Sheffield defence, and fired in to win the game for the hosts.

The three minutes remaining for Sheffield wasn’t enough for them to mount a comeback, and they came away from Pontefract with a defeat.

Sheffield FC: 1. Mikey Roxburgh, 2. Sam Greenhouse, 3. Brandon Webster, 4. Joe West ©, 5. Connor Cutts, 6. Simon Jakab, 7. Nathan Modest, 8. Stephen Brogan, 9. Luke Aldrich, 10. Luke Mangham, 11. Archie White.

Substitutes: 14. Oliver Bointon, 15. AJ Greaves, 16. Cameron Bedford, 17. Rory Coleman.

Attendance: 265