Recap

Frickley 0 Dearne & District 1

The Blues went toe to toe with the league leaders in a feisty encounter, under the lights at The Wezzie, that ended 10 a side. However, despite giving the highflying visitors a proper game, and deserving at least a point, the footballing gods cruelly allowed Dearne to nick it with a late goal.

The Azzurri were certainly in the contest from the off, with Cable challenging the Dearne keeper for a high ball in the 2nd minute. The keeper spilled it but was fortunate to see the ball drop kindly enough for him to recover.

O’Connor was awarded a yellow card moments later. The first of a few harsh decisions.

Cable then showed some nice footwork 7 minutes in, but unfortunately there was nobody in the middle to get on the end of his cross.

Lloydy was next to threaten, getting on the end of a flick on in the 13th minute, although his shot lacked the power or accuracy needed to trouble the visiting keeper.

Dearne responded with a shot that Evans dealt with comfortably, before The Blues carved out one of the best opportunities of the first half. A swift break saw Les Bleus go 4 against 2, but Austerfield dragged his shot wide when a goal looked a real possibility.

The visitors then enjoyed a rather alarming 20 second spell in the 23rd minute, rattling the Frickley bar twice in quick succession. Thankfully, the woodwork was in a forgiving mood, and Los Azules survived unscathed.

Radz was then sent tumbling in the penalty area in the 31st minute, but despite protests, the ref remained unmoved.

Aussie picked up a rather soft yellow card shortly afterwards, while Dearne had the ball in the net in the 33rd minute – ruled out as the whistle had already gone for offside several seconds earlier.

Dearne fired another attempt wide in the 42nd minute, before Aussie went close at the other end, striking a loose ball first time only for the keeper to block with his legs.

Goalless at the interval, and D&D were certainly finding life considerably less comfortable than their league position might have suggested. HT 0-0.

The second half began with Dearne applying further pressure from their much used long throw, which was headed goalwards before Evans blocked. Radz then found himself on the receiving end of another push in the penalty box in the 50th minute, but once again the ref wasn’t interested. 2 penalty appeals, 2 refusals. The officiating was to get more ‘interesting’ still.

Price replaced LOC as Frickley looked to freshen things up, but the game was about to take an extraordinary turn.

Jenko found himself on the wrong end of a collision with Dearne’s number 11 in the 57th minute, yet somehow it was the Frickley man who received the yellow card.

Things really boiled over 5 minutes later when Dearne’s number 11 produced a dreadful challenge on Grist, earning himself a straight red card. What followed was pure pantomime, as the dismissed player simulated being headbutted or hit in the face by Jenko, and the ref showed him red too.

So, with 28 minutes remaining, both sides were down to 10 men and the game had acquired a rather different complexion. Crucially, the Azzurri defence was disrupted, as defender Harry Gagen was brought on to replace midfielder Charlie Austerfield in order to shore up the left side of the back 4.

Frickley continued to compete with the side sitting comfortably at the summit, although Owen Evans had to pull off a smart low save in the 71st minute to keep the scores level.

Sadly, the decisive moment arrived in the 76th minute. A misplaced pass around halfway handed Dearne possession, and the visitors quickly exploited the space on the counter attack. With Les Bleus caught out and a man free, the ball was played across for a simple finish and the league leaders had the advantage.

Walker and Cleggy were introduced in place of Cable and Lloydy as The Blues went in search of an equaliser, and they almost found one in spectacular fashion 3 minutes from time.

Grist stepped up to take a free kick in the 87th minute and unleashed a tremendous strike which crashed against the crossbar. On another evening, perhaps that one drops underneath the bar rather than bouncing to safety, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion. FT 0-1.

There was precious little between us and the team 9 points clear at the top of the table at the start of play. With 2 penalty appeals turned down, a couple of great chances, a free kick off the bar, we did more than enough to warrant a share of the spoils. I’m sure our season won’t be defined by results like this against Dearne but if The Blues can reproduce this combined level of toughness and threat against the sides around us, then we’ll win more than we lose.

WEBMASTER MOTM – we played some decent football when we could, and we dug in and refused to roll over when we had to. Joel Spence was at the heart what we did well, leading by example. Tom Radley and Josh Dacre never took a backward step, and, until his dismissal, Will Jenkinson was more than a match for anything thrown his way. Owen Evans was a calming presence in goal, and Charlie Austerfield showed a neat knack of getting on the end of some nice moves. And Keelan Grist so nearly got us back on level terms. But the Glitterball goes to Stephen Williams. He ratted for all he was worth. Sterling work, Ste!

VOLUNTEERS’ MOTM – Joel Spence was chosen by a majority of the Blues volunteers at the game. Well done, Skipper!

An impressive 353 through the gate. Thank you for coming out to support your locally sourced, environmentally friendly, low fat, high fibre football club!

To hear the thoughts of the gaffer, Lee Morris, click here.

To see the matchday programme, click here.

The Blues are next in action on Saturday 7th November when we travel to Keighley Town, 3pm kickoff. Hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD