Albion Sports v Frickley Athletic

Recap

Albion Sports 2 Frickley 0

In an almost carbon copy of the Knaresborough game, it was a pair of errors that allowed the hosts to take a scrappy 2-0 win.

There were 4 changes from the side that faced Knaresborough. Townrow, James, Walker and Lloydy were replaced by Murillo, Hemingway, Proctor and Butterworth. Lloydy moved to the bench, alongside Rylee Grove who has joined on a work experience loan from Rotherham United.

The Azzurri’s best chance of the game came as early as the 6th minute when Rieves crossed, The Elk headed down to Proctor but the bounce on the 3G did for him and his shot went well over.

Just before the quarter of an hour, Albion headed towards goal but it was cleared after hitting one of their own players.

The home side took the lead in questionable circumstances in the 19th minute. Brandon Murillo blocked an awkwardly bouncing cross with his body. The ref said it was handball and gave a penner, despite the Albion forward who would have benefited from the cross being clearly offside. Thus the error was that of the officials to these eyes. Duly dispatched by Albion’s Robbie Fox.

In the next 20 minutes, it was rare to see either team get into the final third. Albion shot tamely into Bradders’s hands and he showed a quick pair of feet to make a reflex stop from a close range header. Varls made a super tackle as well.

The Elk continued to get forward and do his best to get the ball back into the danger area.

As half time loomed, Big Al was bundled over in the box but was booked for simulation. HT 1-0.

After the break, Albion saw the odd shot blocked or flash across goal.

A couple of times, Albion attackers threw themselves down in the box, no penalty awarded nor a yellow for simulation. Hmmm.

On the hour, Albion’s Robbie Fox cemented his place as the division’s second highest scorer with a second goal – both more fortunate than earned. Fox hit a speculative wormburner that Bradders looked to have covered, but the ball skipped off the wet surface and he could only palm it into the net.

The highlights of the last half hour were Albion shooting wide in the 72nd minute and less than a minute later, The Elk crossed but Rieves couldn’t quite get a toe to it. Rylee Grove came on to make his debut too.

By the time the ref blew the final whistle, both of Albion’s supporters were going wild. FT 2-0.

I’m not keen on plastic pitches and this did nothing to make me change my mind. And the drizzle  did nothing to help. A very high bounce and the ball running away on the wet surface largely spoilt the game, and the home side didn’t cope with it much better.

WEBMASTER MOTM – we never gave up but we didn’t make Albion work as hard as we could have. Ant Onoh, Varls and Proctor weren’t much troubled by the opposition. The Colonel and Rieves were hard running. Rylee Grove looked sound. And Jake Hemingway didn’t put a foot wrong in his first full 90 minutes since early October. But The Glitterball goes to The Elk. He was our main attacking threat, and with The Colonel he covered every blade of plastic. Zowie, Zav!

TWITTER MOTM – Zav Elkin takes it from Richard Collier, Ash Butterworth and Alex Varley. Jake Hemingway also polled votes. Thanks to all who voted.

SPONSORS/VOLUNTEERS MOTM – Zav Elkin was chosen by The Cooper Posse – Phil and Travis. Well done, Elk!

67 (sixty seven) through the gate with a over half of those present supporting The Blues. Thank you for your commitment on a damp evening!

To hear the thoughts of Zav Elkin and Richard Collier, click here.

The Blues are next in action on Saturday 16th March when we host Rossington Main, 3pm kickoff, and commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike. Hope to see you all there…

#forzafrickley

#coalnotdole