Frickley Athletic v Sandbach United

Recap

Frickley 2 Sandbach United 2

(4-5 on pens) (FA Vase)

A controversial late penalty award gave Sandbach a way back into the game that had looked unlikely. They then took full advantage of the lifeline by nicking it in the penalty shootout.

There were 5 changes from Tuesday with Brewin-Hawkins, Brook, Cairney, Elkin Sheppard and Guilfoyle all coming back into the Starting XI.

Within 10 minutes of kickoff, Gilly had broken through but the keeper dived to push away his shot, Sandbach had hit the angle of the goal from the edge of the box and Hewitson had made a reflex save from a goal bound header.

The Blues regained the ascendancy as Gilly latched onto a throw in and forced a save with his angled shot. And Keano flashed a dangerous ball across the face of goal but there was no one there to apply the coup de grace.

Just after the half hour, Hewitson fingertipped a rasping drive onto the post and to safety.

The Azzurri had a good shout for a penalty as Tommo was thrown over in the box by a defender in a move that Honey Boy Zimba would’ve balked at. The ref waved it away.

On the stroke of half time, a Sandbach forward rolled his marker and blazed wide from a good position. HT 0-0.

There was little over 90 seconds on the clock after the restart when the visitors took the lead. Hewitson saved the initial close range effort but the rebound sat up nicely for the forward to tuck away.

The Azzurri weren’t down for long as Jamie Tomlinson was upended in the area on 50 minutes. Penner awarded, and Gilly sent the keeper the wrong way to level it.

3 minutes later, Tommo caused havoc when he hit a shot into the ground and had the keeper flapping to keep it out.

On the hour, Sandbach will have been disappointed that they missed the target, heading wide from inside the 6 yard box.

Sandbach clearly handballed from a free kick in the 63rd minute. Nowt given.

On 71 minutes, The Boys in Blue went ahead for the first time in the tie. Sutton floated a free kick into the area, the Sandbach keeper was slow to react to the bouncing ball and Tommo nodded it over him, into the net.

The Blues almost doubled their advantage when Harley played a  Hollywood pass to Zav, he crossed and Tommo’s header thumped the bar.

In the 83rd minute came the biggest talking point of the second half. The Sandbach forward handled the ball, grabbed a handful of RBH’s shirt, linked arms with him and dragged him down. The ref inexplicably awarded a penner. Duly dispatched and, very much against the run of play, Sandbach were all square.

The Azzurri might have had the chance to win it with 2 minutes left. However, the ‘interesting’ officiating continued when a Sandbach defender slapped the ball away with his hand whilst he was impersonating the Angel of the North. Unbelievably, the ref indicated that the perpetrator’s arms were by his side, which they most certainly were not.

The final opportunity of the game fell to Cleggy but his hooked shot went inches wide. FT 2-2.

So it was straight to penalties. Gilly, Cleggy, Harley and last minute sub Zach Cooper all stuck theirs away but Tommo’s spot kick smashed against the bar. Thus it was that the 5 straightforward strikes by the visitors put them into the hat for the next round.

We were in control for large parts of the game and should’ve been out of sight long before the suspect penalty was given. And penalty shootouts are a lottery that we’d rather avoid. But we have to take our medicine and move on to Tuesday and the Silsden game.

WEBMASTER MOTM – plenty of positive performances all over the park. Hewitson was handy, Brooky and Cairney were dogged, and Will Sutton and The Elk were constantly on the front foot. RBH never took a backwards step either. Joel Spence ran his blood to water and his chasing back was outstanding. And the subs all contributed, Cleggy and Harley got right into the thick of it, and Coops had nerves of steel from the spot, as did Gilly – twice! However, the Glitterball goes to Jamie Tomlinson. He won the penalty, scored the second and was a threat all afternoon. Even his penalty shootout miss would’ve been the best spot kick of the lot had it been an inch lower. Top notch, Tommo!

TWITTER MOTM – Jamie Tomlinson takes it from Joel Spence, Reuben Brewin-Hawkins and Will Sutton. Thanks to all who voted.

SPONSORS/VOLUNTEERS MOTM – Callum Brook was chosen by Brogan Murphy. Well done, Brooky!

135 through the gate. Thank you for coming out and supporting your local club while you were waiting for the first proper episode of Strictly.

To hear the thoughts of manager, James Baxendale, click here.

The Blues are next in action on Tuesday 24th September, when Silsden are our visitors as we get back to league football, 7.45pm kickoff. Hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD