Recap

Frickley 2 Penistone Church 3

In front of a bumper crowd of 786 – our highest home attendance since October 2008 – Penistone Church upset the form book to claim their first league win in 15 matches in a tense encounter under the new LED floodies at The Wezzie.

The visitors almost carved The Blues open inside 7 minutes, only for Booth to react sharply and clear the danger.

Penistone continued to probe, while The Azzurri looked to respond on the break, Lindley embarking on a threatening run shortly afterwards that ultimately fizzled out. Then around the quarter of an hour mark, Tom A found a yard of space on the edge of the area and unleashed a fierce drive that stung the goalkeeper’s palms. Penistone replied almost immediately, dragging a shot wide.

Midway through the half, Jenkinson produced a superb block and tackle to halt another Penistone attack, though the follow up effort still sailed over the bar.

The pressure eventually told in the 23rd minute when Penistone broke the deadlock in fortuitous fashion, scoring directly from a corner, despite Booth getting a hand to it.

It took just 6 minutes for The Azzurri to reply, Robbo swinging in a free kick that Will Jenkinson met with a firm header to equalise.

With the game finely balanced, Booth was forced into further action, punching clear another tricky Penistone corner as the visitors continued to exploit set pieces. Soon after, he produced an excellent full length stop to keep the score at 1-1, but the relief was short lived.

3 minutes before the interval, Penistone once again caused problems from a corner, Booth fumbled as he was jostled, the loose ball ricocheting around the 6 yard box before a wicked deflection sent it past Booth, into the net.

Matters worsened in time added on at the end of the half as a Penistone forward, with a whiff of offside about him, broke clear before squaring to give his teammate a simple tap in, leaving The Blues trailing 3-1 at the break. HT 1-3.

At the restart, El Binno replaced Gagen, and Les Bleus emerged with renewed purpose. After a spell of to and fro, Destiny struck a thunderous angled effort from 12 yards that the keeper could only palm onto the post in the 62nd minute.

2 minutes on and The Azzurri closed the gap when Tom A capitalised on a defensive error, reacting quickest to crack a low shot into the bottom corner and bring the score back to 3-2.

Penistone weren’t finished though and twice threatened to extend their lead again, only to be denied by Booth. First, he pulled off a stunning point blank save, and shortly afterwards showed good reflexes when faced with a 1 on 1 situation.

As The Boys in Blue continued to look for an opportunity to get back on level terms, Lindley cut inside and crashing a shot against the crossbar.

More subs followed, and one of them, Andrew, nearly found an opening, nipping in behind the defence, but the keeper was alert enough to steal the ball from his feet. At the other end, Jenko made another vital contribution with a perfectly timed sliding tackle inside the box to halt an attack.

The Blues were reduced to 10 men, when Destiny was harshly sin binned for dissent with 5 minutes remaining.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, The Azzurri continued to press in stoppage time, Butch firing wide from 20 yards as the clock ticked down. Penistone, however, broke up much of the later play to hang on for victory. FT 2-3.

It was a frustrating afternoon as with a little more luck, having twice hit the woodwork, we might have got something out of the game. But we were left to reflect on that mad 5 minutes before the break that ultimately proved decisive.

WEBMASTER MOTM – not quite up to our recent high standards but we hung in there till the very end. Tom A was ever alive to an opening as his goal took him into double figures for the season. Robbo was a willing runner and Josh Lindley never gave up, and he went so close when he came from deep to hit the bar. And a word for Spencer Booth, he had a couple of difficult moments but made several crucial saves too, so keep that chin up. But the Glitterball goes to Will Jenkinson. With his first goal for the club and some extremely timely interventions, he proved that you don’t need an armband to be a leader. Just the job, Jenko!

TWITTER MOTM – Josh Lindley takes it from Will Jenkinson, Tom Alngohuru and Lucas Robinson. Thanks to all who voted.

SPONSORS/VOLUNTEERS MOTM – Tom Alngohuru was chosen by Chris(tmas) Medwell! Well done, Tom!

An amazing 786 through the gate for our biggest attendance since October 2008, and our 3rd highest attendance of the 21st century!Project 600? Completed it, mate! Thank you for your superb support and please do come again!

To hear the thoughts of the gaffer, Martin Woolford, click here.

To see the full photo gallery by Pixel Perfect Photography, click here.

To see the matchday programme, click here.

The Blues are next in action in 2026 on Saturday 3rd January when we travel to Liversedge, 3pm kickoff. Till then, have a peaceful New Year, and hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD

#bluechristmas