Frickley Athletic v Silsden AFC

Recap

Frickley 2 Silsden 3

Another late goal broke Azzurri hearts after a spirited comeback. We certainly weren’t outplayed but the home hoodoo continues.

There were 3 changes from Saturday with Varley and Clegg coming in and Mitch Rose making his debut. Thwaites, Brook and Cairney dropped out of the matchday squad whilst Holden and Hughes were added to the bench. Silsden included former Blues keeper Callum Bradbury in their lineup.

With quarter of an hour gone, there wasn’t much to report bar a couple of blazes into the car park by Silsden.

On 18 minutes, Adam Hewitson was called into action for the first time as the visitors shot from range and Hewitson had to be quick to get it in his grasp.

Hewitson’s next involvement, 2 minutes later, ended with him picking the ball out of the net. He saved a close range header from a corner but it dropped to Silsden’s number 9 to tap in.

It took until the 32nd minute before The Blues created anything that could be construed as even a half chance. Cleggy played a superb cross field Hollywood pass to Tommo but he lifted his shot well over.

Varls battled well to win the ball in midfield then fed Gilly and his shot was tipped over the bar but the touch was missed by the officials, and a goal kick was awarded.

On the stroke of half time some nice interplay ended with Zav pinging a low cross across the face of goal but it evaded everyone. HT 0-1.

Things were looking somewhat bleak, 5 minutes into the second period, when Silsden doubled their advantage. A long throw landed at the feet of their number 7 and he completed the simple job of tucking it away from 3 or 4 yards.

This seemed to provide The Azzurri with a much needed wake up call and within 6 minutes the deficit was halved. After a powerful run down the right, Varls dragged the ball back for Cleggy who whipped it past the keeper and into the bottom corner.

With 20 minutes to go, a spell of sustained Azzurri pressure saw a Silsden defender stoop to head Tommo’s cross past his own keeper and to level the game.

Inside the last 10 minutes and  Hewitson made a pair of crucial saves. The first was a reflex stop from a header and for the second it wasn’t clear how much either he or the forward knew about it.

And just as we were all starting to think about a hard earned point after being 2 goals down, Silsden scored an 89th minute winner. A corner was knocked out to the edge of the box and the Silsden player caught it just right, sending his wormburner zipping through a sea of legs into the net. One of those irritating instances where he couldn’t have repeated the feat if given another 50 goes at it but he shouldn’t have had the space he was given to shoot either. Bugger! FT 2-3.

A last minute defeat and all 3 goals from set pieces. Such a shame after we had showed plenty of character to get it back to 2 apiece. We just need to add a bit of resilience and concentration, especially late on.

WEBMASTER MOTM – the second half performance was very positive. RBH played out well from the back. Spence, Rose and Varls were relentless. Tomlinson is growing into senior football with every game. And a word for Keano for slotting in seamlessly at centre half, not a position we’re accustomed to seeing him in. But the Glitterball has to go to Charlie Clegg. The local lad done good, he worked hard down the channels then popped up like the fox in the box that he is to score a true poacher’s goal. Class, Cleggy!

TWITTER MOTM – Charlie Clegg takes it from Keanan Mannings, Jack Varley and Reuben Brewin-Hawkins. Thanks to all who voted.

SPONSORS/VOLUNTEERS MOTM – Keanan Mannings was chosen by Ashton Powney’s dad 😉 Well done, Keano!

214 through the gate. Thank you for braving the autumn chill to cheer on the lads.

To hear the thoughts of assistant manager, Matt Flanagan, click here.

The Blues are next in action on Saturday 28th September, when we travel to Eccleshill United, 3pm kickoff. Hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD