Hyde United v Frickley Athletic

Recap

Frickley put in a bloody good performance, it was a bloody good game & the ref sadly had eyes so bloodshot that it affected him quite badly. But he soldiered on to the end, stacking up howler after howler. & what is the point of liners these days? Back in the day they used to be instrumental in the award of throw ins, free kicks & the like. Now they may as well have a balloon on a stick instead of a flag – at least they’d keep the children entertained

Playing on the artificial surface (I’ve never seen a plastic pitch that wouldn’t be improved by a can of petrol & a box of Swan Vestas), Frickley almost had a dream start in the first minute when Tommo had a great chance but the keeper saved. But the dream became reality on 4 minutes, a defence splitting pass to Kegan Everington & he stuck it home nicely from 18 yards.

Next Nyle-nel rounded the keeper but hit the side netting & then some lovely football set up Tommo whose shot was inches too high. But as is the way with these things, Hyde then went down the other end & equalised.

But Frickley were straight back at it & Margs broke the defence but his shot was saved & Fin Shrimpton saw his shot saved on the line from the resulting corner. Then Zac Hartley got his dancing shoes on but shot was high.

Hyde came at us more in the second half & they took the lead on the hour. Then Hyde were awarded a penalty, Greg Louganis could be seen applauding from the stands. But Jackson Smith pulled off a brilliant save to keep the score at 2-1 & keep us in the game.

Skipper Hotte had a chip land on top of the nets, then a good break saw Fin pull his shot just wide. Then Wightwick showed great footwork & was chopped down in the box – penner. Margs to take – he drilled it down the middle but the keeper guessed right & saved it.

Within minutes The Azzurri should have been awarded another spot kick – Nyle Blake burst into the box & was scythed down. Everyone knew it was a pen – the home keeper said it was & even the home fans appealed for it. But the ref, clearly thinking about his short walk home & the Fray Bentos pie that his Bride from Hyde was lovingly preparing, just stared wistfully into the night sky – his thoughts untroubled by minutiae such as the rules.

There was still chance for us to get back on terms – ping pong in the box & Charlie Barks had an effort land on the roof of the net.

So it wasn’t to be – but if Dom Cummings glove puppet decides to can the season it was a great performance to end on (despite the result). We had a very young starting eleven but they showed no fear playing against a team from a higher league. The home fans were very complimentary about our players & our play as they left the stadium, which was very decent of them.

WEBMASTER MOTM – tough one to call, everyone gave us at least 8 out of 10. Charlie Barks had his best game in a blue shirt, Zac has settled in really well, Luca Bucci was excellent & put some lung busting bursts in to play almost like a wing back. Fin did the business again in midfield – hard to believe this kid has only just turned 18. The ‘Old Guard’ played their part too – Margs was excellent despite his miss & Tyler, Tommo & The Skip all performed well. But the stand outs for me were Nyle, Jackson Smith & Kegan – & I’m giving the Glitterball to Kegan, got his first goal for the club & just gave his usual high calibre performance in midfield as well as helping out at the back

TWITTER POLL MOTM – Jackson Smith takes his first Twitter Poll MOTM, with Charlie Barks second followed closely by Nyle & Kegan. Thank you to everyone who voted, much appreciated

Next up we’re scheduled to play Stamford at the Wezzie next Saturday, but who knows, who knows…..