Albion Sports v Frickley Athletic

Recap

If I was stood 5 yards away from a player getting deliberately elbowed in the head & instead of a penalty & a straight red I awarded a corner & a yellow, I’d probably think about finding a new hobby….

The Gaffer had to shuffle the pack a little – Murillo still suspended & Owen ill & then El Binno had to pull out just before the game, so it meant debuts for George Eze, Zak Kersey & the deliciously named Myles La Bastide (who started on the bench). All 3 join us from Bradford Park Avenue.

Entertainment was at a premium in the first half – Josh Haigh & Lloyd Smith creating chances for themselves but not able to convert before Albion took the lead with a goal that was so far offside that the ‘scorer’ had to get a taxi back to the game & then pay to get in. You really should be putting your flag up when a player is THAT offside

Poor defending by us lead to Albion doubling the lead & you could have thought that was that.

But we came out in the 2nd half with renewed vim & vigour & with the opening move of the game Zak Kersey drilled a ball into the box & into the onion bag (not you Jerry) – if may have got a touch on the way in but frankly, who cares.

Then came the GBH on Lloyd Smith – not sure why the defender decided to flatten Lloydy, maybe he realised that he would never be half the footballer that Lloyd already is. Who knows – the only obvious thing was that it should have been a straight red. If I do the same thing in Wetherspoons tonight I’ll get a custodial sentence.

From that point on it became the Lloyd Smith show – he hit the outside of the post with a shot, then showed great footwork to baffle 3 defenders & put a lovely ball across the 6 yard box but no-one could get the touch that it needed

As hard as we tried we couldn’t get the equaliser that we merited & the game ended in defeat, a tough one to take under the circumstances

WEBMASTER MOTM – I was impressed with Basi again. The 3 new lads all did well. Josh Haigh started out on the wing but then shifted to left back & did well in both positions. Collier ran his blood to water again in midfield & Big Al & Lloyd gave us what they always give us (& deserved better protection) but I’m giving the Glitterball to Zak Kersey – a great shift on debut. Very similar in style & skill levels to Kofi but more attack minded. Well done Sir

TWITTER POLL MOTM – agreeing with me again! Zak takes it from Lloydy & Josh & Big Al tucked in behind them with Ryan Basi also polling. Thank you to everyone who voted

No interview with the Gaffer this time as we were all too angry

71 through the gate with Frickley fans accounting for about 45-50 of that number (Ken counted them!) – another great turn out by the Azzuri

A week to recover now as we prepare for the visit of Hallam to the Wezzie next Saturday – let’s have some big numbers backing the boys