Frickley Athletic v Maltby Main

Recap

Frickley 2 Maltby Main 4 (Sheffield Cup)

Our involvement in cup football ended for the season as we were comprehensively beaten by Maltby Main in the first round of the Sheffield Senior Cup. Some questionable defending and a Freddy Tracey hat trick did the majority of the damage.

Benno shuffled his pack again to account for a combination of injuries, unavailability and to give game time to those who hadn’t had much lately.

It didn’t start well. The Blues were 2-0 down before the quarter of an hour mark. The first came on 10 minutes as Tracey ran straight though the back line to open the scoring.

Then Tracey almost repeated the trick straight from the restart but went down (easily) as he rounded the keeper. Penner awarded which Tracey got up to put away.

Jav Benjamin reduced the arrears in the 18th minute when he smashed home from distance.

However, a 35th minute comedy of errors in the Blues defence allowed Maltby to score a near carbon copy of their first goal.

Just before half time, some great play down the left from Fabio Vieira saw The Azzurri have 3 bites of the cherry but great keeping and fortunate defending kept the ball out of the onion bag. HT 1-3.

Al Keita had the ball in the net soon after the break but offside was given, despite the ball coming off a defender, it was deemed to be an unintentional touch so no goal.

Tracey completed his treble in the 72nd minute with a near post header to effectively end the game as a meaningful contest.

Yet their was still time for a couple of bright spots. Matty Hughes, returning from injury, got the afterburners on and crossed for Rich Collier but The Colonel pulled his shot wide.

And with three minutes left, debutant Wade Ripley scored a well deserved goal. Cutting inside from the left, his shot took a deflection on its way in. The Colonel followed it in but The Dubious Goals Committee deemed it to be Ripley’s. FT 1-3.

One to largely forget. We take our medicine and look for a response on Saturday as we concentrate on the league for the rest of 2022/23.

WEBMASTER MOTM – there was no lack of effort but the concentration required at this level might have been a little awry for this one. Big Al was a threat and Vieira had his moments too. Kofi and Jav were constantly in the thick of it, as was The Colonel when he came on. But The Glitterball goes to Wade Ripley who did what he does for the U23s and opened his account for the seniors. Well done Wade!

TWITTER MOTM – Wade Ripley walked the public vote with Collier, Fabio Vieira and Big Al also polling votes. Thanks to all who voted.

A very respectable (for the early rounds of the Sheffield Cup) 142 through the gate. We thank you for your brilliant support.

A massive thanks to super-fan, super-volunteer and super-steward Gerry Wray for sponsoring the matchball. Muchos gracias bro!

The Blues are back in league action, here at The Wezzie, on Saturday when Albion Sports are our visitors, 3pm ko. Hope to see you all there.