Frickley Athletic v Belper Town

Recap

First half we were a complete shambles.

We’ve seen some horror shows at The Lane in the past, especially in the (many) relegation-threatened seasons & this was up there with the best, or worst, of them. A masterclass in how not to defend – from 1 through to 11 – meant that Belper were 3 up in 20 odd minutes without breaking sweat. The sight of footballers panicking because the ball is at their feet is quite something……

We were missing Grayson, Hotte & Miller again – that’s not an excuse, just information

We were better in the 2nd half – it would have been impossible not to be – & we got a tiny foothold on the hour when Margs was chopped down in the box & got up to smack the ball home from the spot to make it 1-3. Then we got a free kick that was well hit by Jarman but the keeper pulled off a very good 1 handed save. Had that gone in, at 2-3 Belper were incredibly crumbling.

Ultimately, it’s the hope that kills you – we had a number of 1/2 & 1/4 chances but we couldn’t convert. Belper were the benefactors of a very fortunate free kick award. In the build up Todd Jordan received an elbow smash that wouldn’t have been out of place in an MMA fight. The ref, 6 feet away, didn’t see anything but then saw enough to award a free kick the other way. Belper converted after a Tom Nick save – but Tom does better with his handling on another day.

So it ended 4-1 to Belper. We’ve averaged around 200 spectators for our 3 competitive home games so far – with displays like this, that is going to drop irrespective of whether the ‘Elite’ are allowed fans or not.

The bright spots of the game were the performances of Fin Shrimpton (once again) & the introduction of Young Macca at half time who stood out.

Frecks interview to follow.

WEBMASTER MOTM – easy, Josh McLauchlan.

TWITTER POLL MOTM – Fin took the Twitter Poll ahead of Josh, with Jarman, Tyler & Charlie Barks also polling. Thank you to everyone who voted.

209 through the gates – our apologies to the Frickley fans who had to endure the first half & thank you for your support.

Lucky you – you get to see us in action again on Saturday as we are at home to Carlton in a league fixture, kick off 3pm. You can get your digital ticket here or pay on the gate. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.