Eastwood CFC 3 Frickley 2
The Azzurri played another behind closed doors friendly at Eastwood on Saturday (there were no live updates on social media as we fully supported the media blackout, demanding an end to online abuse), but here’s the skinny – better late than never!
The Blues started brightly, storming into a 2-0 lead but then saw their hopes of a win go west on the plastic at Eastwood.
The Frickley starting eleven was Hugo Warhurst, Josh Burns, Joe Stacey, Kern Miller, Danny Burns, Kegan Everington, Lee Frecklington, Ethan Kenny, Jonny Margetts, Brad Wells and Kian Sketchley, with a subs bench of Maison Campbell, Kyle Simpson, Khalid Sulieman, Cameron Barnett and Kyle O’Reilly.
It was all The Blues for the first 20 minutes. Margs had a 20 yard free kick well held after only 7 minutes. Then 3 minutes later, good work wide on the left from Lee Frecklington allowed him to get the ball into the mixer where the new skipper Danny ‘The Heat’ Burns smashed home the loose ball.
On the quarter of an hour mark, Kian Sketchley fed Margs and The Surgeon made no mistake in guiding his shot past the keeper to double the lead.
At this point, the officials decided that we’d had enough decisions for one day and so it was in the 21st minute, when Eastwood were given a penalty for something only visible to the ref. Hugo was duly sent the wrong way to reduce the deficit.
Eastwood were level moments later when their attacker carried the ball into the box before hitting an angled strike beyond Hugo’s dive and into the bottom corner.
Both sides had chances to take a lead into half time but a combination of ring rust in front of goal and harsh offside calls meant that it was all square at the break. HT 2-2.
Eastwood got their noses ahead within seconds of the restart. Half time Eastwood sub Ben Hutchinson (pictured), who briefly played in the Premier League for Middlesbrough and in the Champions’ League for Celtic, showed a flash of his old magic in getting to a ball that looked lost to cross for his teammate to virtually tap in.
A raft of further substitutions saw both sides struggle to find any rhythm, and, as competitive as the game continued to be, the last half hour passed without any more clear cut chances. FT 3-2.
As gaffer Dave Frecklington told us, this game was a good chance to get a run out and play a bit of football. Mission accomplished. Detailed formations and strategies (and wins!) can wait for another day. It was also good to see a couple of the U21s getting some game time.
No-one had a bad game and everyone contributed but the midfield looked particularly well oiled, Young Frecks, Kegan, Kian Sketchley and Ethan Kenny looked creative going forward and were diligent in their defensive duties.
I’ve said it before but roll on the new season….
