Frickley Athletic v Pickering Town

Recap

After the recent run that we’ve been on, a home game against a winless bottom of the table team seemed the ideal fixture to get the show back on the road.

But we are a team low on luck & even lower on confidence at the moment & that showed throughout – we missed any number of 1 v 1s with the keeper & passed too often when we were inside the box instead of putting the laces through it.

We are riven with injuries & unavailability too so the Gaffer has brought in Piteu Crouz (joins us from Yorkshire Amateurs) & Jaz Goundry & Luis Adlard (Grimsby Town loanees) & all 3 made their debuts. Luke Hinsley made his home debut & the bad luck continued as Luke pulled up injured early in the first half & was replaced by Joe Stacey.

We had any number of chances in the first half to put the game to bed – but we didn’t – & that came back to bite us in the second half (as it so often does).

Pickering took the lead on 73 minutes after a defensive slip up

Substitute Mettam (on for Crouz) immediately set up The Bomber to equalise, could this be the bit of good fortune that we needed????

It wasn’t to be, as a rash tackle inside the 25 yard box lead to a penalty award. I don’t know if the players were made aware of the increase in the size of the penalty area before the game but they should know that a tackle from behind 24 yards & 9 inches from the goal line is a penalty all day long……

Here’s what my man wrote about it:

Pickering took their first win of the season, thanks to a late penalty against a patched up Frickley side.
The opening quarter of an hour was a midfield battle until good work from Brad Wells ended with a deflection that forced a reflex save out of Pickering’s Adam Kelsey.
Kelsey had to stand firm again when Luis Adlard fed Frickley sub Joe Stacey.
Stacey created a gilt edged opportunity for Piteu Crouz on the half hour but Pickering blocked on the line.
Pickering’s first chance fell to Will Taylor 8 yards out just before the break but he blasted straight at a defender. There was still time for Adlard to cross for Brad Wells to guide the ball just wide.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first with both sides feeling each other out. It took until the 55th minute until The Pikes’ Jackson Jowett hit his long rang shot over. 10 minutes later, Stacey hit the bar for Frickley from a corner.
In the 73rd minute Wayne Brooksby put the visitors ahead after a through ball. But it was all square 3 minutes later when Leon Mettam put Wells in on goal and he finished at the second time of asking.
Lewis Taylor gave Pickering the win when he netted from the spot with 7 minutes to go after a foul that could only have been inches inside the area.

Back to me:

So a game that we should have expected to win (but didn’t) but you would also expect the arbiters of the game to know where the 18 yard box starts & ends & what handball looks like (but didn’t)…..

WEBMASTER MOTM – Stacey caught the eye once again (he gets a hat trick on another day), Brad ran his blood to water (again), Danny Burns did well in an unusual position just in front of the back 4 & none of the new lads looked out of place & I’m giving the Glitterball to one of them – well done Jaz Goundry. A solid display & a right arm on him from throw ins

TWITTER POLL MOTM – Joe Stacey takes the vote, ahead of Nathan Whitehead & Jaz Goundry with Brad tucked in behind them & Burnsy also got votes. Thank you to everyone who voted

177 through the gate – once again we thank you for supporting the club, especially when the results aren’t quite clicking……but they will. Keep The Faith sisters & brothers!!!

Frecks post match interview will be posted as soon as our Head Of Global Strategy (You Tube Interviews) gets his finger out

A weeks rest now & then we go again next Saturday, away to Stockton for a league fixture, 3pm kick off – PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS NO SUPPORTERS COACH FOR THIS GAME