Stocksbridge Park Steels v Frickley Athletic

Recap

Anyone who has watched our last few games will know that the lads have been performing at a high standard but not getting the deserved results (although being unbeaten in the league in October is a very decent return) but yesterday they upped the standard even more & got a much merited win in a very good & very watchable game vs SPS.

Frecks was dealt another bowlful of bad luck in the week when Joe Stacey picked up an injury in training that will keep him out for a couple of games & Jack Gibson picked up a more severe injury whilst back training with Gainsborough which will keep him out for a longer period. But we were able to bring in Rio Molyneaux on loan from Alfreton,,,,,,more on him later – & it was fantastic to see Tyreece Robinson back after picking up a really bad injury on debut at Dunston

The Azzurri made a very bright start – Nyle Blake had a great chance on 6 minutes but he pulled his shot wide from close in. However the relief for SPS didn’t last long as he latched on to a defence splitting pass & stuck it in the onion bag, calm as you like, on 8 minutes.

Then Rio gave us our first chance to see what he is all about as he broke down the right wing & cut inside to flash a shot across goal.

Then Kegan went on an incredible lung busting run which ended with his shot being well saved.

Another break by Nyle & another good save to prevent us increasing our lead & so it was 1 zip at half time

We started the 2nd half with the same tempo & Holli flashed a shot just over

But on 57 minutes came a moment that was worth the entrance fee on its own – if it had been on MOTD Lineker & Shearer would have had their jogging bottoms round their ankles. Joe West played a lovely flighted ball over the defence for Piteu Crouz. The Missile had 2 six foot defenders either side of him but he controlled the ball, took it away from them & swivelled & smashed it top bins from the edge of the area. A moment to savour which brought about absolute limbs from the Frickley dug out & the hordes of Azzurri fans.

SPS came back at us though & on 67 minutes ex Blue Luke Mangham made it 2-1 after a second bite at the cherry from a Pierrepoint save.

Big Dev came on for Kingy & Tyreece came on for a Piteu to keep up the pace & tempo

The boys comfortably controlled the remainder of the half – restricting the home team to long range pot shots & wayward balls over the top although SPS thought they had brought it back to parity at the death but the liner flagged for offside – finally a rub of the green for the Greens.

So 3 away cherries, an excellent performance & you could see how much it lifted the players, management team & fans

One final comment, if there are any caravan repair entrepreneurs out there I would recommend setting up an office in the Stocksbridge area….

WEBMASTER MOTM – now I get paid a lot of money for things like these match reports & Glitterball awards (quite rightly) but I honestly cannot call the Glitterball after yesterdays stellar performances so for a change I’m going to list the individual displays (like they do in the posh papers) & you can pick your own Glitterball winner. That’s right, for one day only, you can pretend to be as important as me!!!

Pierrepoint – hardly had a save to make but commands his box on crosses & the like magnificently
Tyler – left winger, asked to play right back, no problem. Looked like he’s played there all his life
Joe West – quality & his delicious delivery set up the Crouz goal
Holli & Kegan – bracketing these 2 together. Superb centre midfield display by these 2. The Media Team have a favoured term; ratting – no way does it do their performances justice but I think you’ll know what we mean when we say they were ratting away all game
Burnsy & Beatson – bracketing these 2 together too. Absolute monsters. Track the attack, break it down, give the ball to a team mate, rinse & repeat
Rio – his name is Rio & he dances for the fans!! Electric down the right wing. He left his marker, Trench, in a trench! I almost felt sorry for the defender then I remembered he had played for Worksop, so I didn’t
Kingy – Chumbawamba display from him. He got knocked down, he got up again, they were never gonna keep him down. Old school centre forward performance – took his knocks & got on with the job in hand
Nyle – unplayable at times. Played in about 4 different positions during the game & scored the opener of course
Piteu Crouz – I’ve seen The Missile rip us a new one when he’s played against us in the past & he delivered one of those performances yesterday PLUS THAT GOAL!
Big Dev – came on for Kingy & injected some more energy into the team
Tyreece – didn’t have time to create too much of a mark of the game but it was just wonderful to see him back in the squad. His time will come!

TWITTER POLL MOTM – thankfully you are all much more decisive than I am, thank you to everyone who voted. Piteu came out on top with Nyle just behind him (fans love goalscorers!!) with Kegan & Holli in behind those 2. Burnsy & Beatson (or should that be Beast-on?) also polled

A very decent gate of 274 & a very rough head count would say that around 50% of those were Azzurri – superb turnout

Here is what Metts thought about it (apologies for the back lighting!) & here is what Big Dev & The Crouz Missile had to say (if you’re wondering why Piteu appears a foot taller than Dev, he was 2 steps further up the terracing!!)

If you want to see some more, we are at home next Saturday & Cleethorpes are the visitors. We’d love to see you all at the Everbuild Wez getting behind the boys