Recap

Keighley Town 1 Frickley 1

Frickley win 8–7 on penalties

(NCEL League Cup)

The Blues progressed to the third round of the NCEL League Cup after a penalty shootout victory at Keighley Town, eventually prevailing 8–7 from the spot following a 1–1 draw after 90 minutes.

The opening stages were scrappy, with Keighley threatening from a couple of early corners in the 3rd minute. The ball ricocheted around the Frickley penalty area before the danger was eventually cleared.

The Azzurri soon began to find their feet. A 5th minute low cross from Flan was met by Cleggy, whose first time effort flashed narrowly wide of the upright.

Flan went close again in the 16th minute when he curled a free kick over the crossbar as Los Azules continued to probe.

The breakthrough arrived in the 38th minute. Josh Dacre spotted Flan making his run beyond the Keighley defence and clipped a superb ball over the top. Flan raced onto it and produced a neat flick to take it beyond the advancing keeper and it rolled into the net before a KTown defender could reach it. HT 0-1.

It took some time but The Boys in Blue looked to extend the lead after the restart. We felt there was a strong claim for a penalty in the 60th minute when Willo was barged over inside the area, but the referee waved play on. The loose ball fell to Roberts, but his shot was held by the Keighley keeper.

Jack Humphreys (debut!) and Tom Alngohuru (second debut!) were introduced for Cleggy and Roberts, before Carmody replaced Price as The Blues continued to look for a second goal.

Keighley came desperately close to an equaliser in the 77th minute when they broke clear, but Edjangue stood tall and produced an excellent save to preserve the advantage.

A minute later, Willo won possession and immediately released Flan. The forward drove towards goal, but his attempt struck the keeper’s legs and the chance disappeared.

The home side finally found a way through in the 86th minute, although the goal came in unfortunate circumstances. Edjangue came out to meet a ball into the area, but an awkward bounce deceived the Frickley number 1. Keighley reacted quickest, nipping in to pop the ball into an unguarded net.

Edjangue redeemed himself somewhat a minute later, producing another superb reflex save to keep the scores level.

Deep into stoppage time, Flan sent a cross into the danger area, but Willo couldn’t quite get enough behind his attempt to trouble the keeper. FT 1-1.

So it was that we went straight to penalties. And what followed was rather a marathon shootout.

The Blues took the first penno and Dacre, Carmody, Alngohuru, Jenkinson, Flanagan, Spence and Gagen all showed nerves of steel and found the net as the first 7 Frickley penalties were converted. Keighley matched us every step of the way, leaving the shootout locked at 7–7.

That brought Humphreys to the spot with the pressure firmly on his shoulders. He made no mistake.

As is the nature of sudden death, Keighley now had to score to keep the tie alive, but Edjangue picked correctly and dived to his right to push away KTown’s 8th penalty, handing The Azzurri an 8-7 win on penalties and a place in the next round of the NCEL League Cup.

WEBMASTER MOTM – every single performance had its positives, but standouts included gritty showings from Josh Dacre, Harry Gagen and Will Jenkinson. Liam Flanagan was simply class again. Joel Spence cruised around midfield putting out fires. And it was great to see Tom Alngohuru back in a Frickley shirt. But the Glitterball goes jointly to young Reuben Crossley and the rather more experienced Luke Williams. Ruby’s calm display at right back belied his delicate years while Luke showed what an explosive handful he is. Lovely stuff, Lu-Reu!

VOLUNTEERS’ MOTM – Reuben Crossley was chosen by general consensus of the Blues volunteers at the game. Well done, Ruby!

138 through the gate, with an extremely impressive midweek following from The Imperium of SESKU. We thank you for devotion and making the long sojourn to Keighley on a school night!

The Blues are next in action on Saturday 26th September when, after 3 consecutive cup ties, we finally get back to the bread and butter of league affairs and welcome Thackley as our visitors to The Wezzie, 3pm kickoff. Hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD