Recap

Frickley 0 Liversedge 0

If you look in the dictionary under “hard won point,” you’ll see a picture of this game. The Azzurri and highflying Liversedge went toe to toe in a pulsating 0-0 draw at The Wezzie, with the visitors forced to play half the match with 10 men.

Liversedge arrived in 4th place and in red hot form, having won 4 straight games without conceding. From the opening whistle both sides went hell for leather, with little time to breathe in a fiercely competitive first half.

The visitors created the early chances. On 7 minutes a George Green free kick found a head in the box but the effort bounced inches over. Moments later Frickley keeper Sykes was called into action twice in quick succession, first fielding a low drive, then blocking a very dangerous close range effort after a Green cross before pushing the resulting corner over the bar.

The Blues looked to have had a stonewall penalty on 15 minutes when Luis AF burst clear and was hauled back by his shirt, but astonishingly (or not?) the referee waved play on.

Liversedge continued to threaten. Green was again involved on 18 minutes, cutting back smartly only for Radz to block the shot. Sykes then produced a fine save, clawing the ball away from another Green free kick before a Liversedge had the ball in the net from the ensuing corner, but was ruled out for a push

At the other end, The Azzurri came close themselves when Spence’s cross-cum-shot came back off the bar.

In the stroke of half time there was a flashpoint. Jenko’s foul lead to the Liversedge number 6 appearing to headbutt him, right in front of the referee. Despite this, what followed was 3 minutes of deliberation, consultations with both assistants, ask the audience and phone a friend. Eventually, the inevitable red card was shown, leaving the visitors down to 10 going in at the break. HT 0-0.

The second half saw Los Azules pushing to make the extra man count. Woolly fired a 20 yard volley narrowly wide on 50 minutes, while Luis AF continued to torment the Liversedge backline without quite finding the killer touch.

The Blues had the visitors penned in for considerable periods, with penalty box pinball around 70 minutes and Destiny forcing the keeper into a very good save on the turn shortly afterwards, thanks to good work by Robbo. Woolly also saw a shot stopped, while late on Kilner picked out Robbo, only for the keeper to claim.

Liversedge still carried the occasional threat on the break and even struck the post with 7 minutes to go, though the flag was already up.

In the end, The Azzurri couldn’t quite find the breakthrough, but against a side in blistering form, it was a valuable point, and given the circumstances, Liversedge will have it every bit as welcome.

WEBMASTER MOTM – that was a show of true grit against one of the best teams in the division. Luis, Robbo and Destiny kept Liversedge  very much on the back foot in the second half. Spence and Woolly were box to box. And Tyler is flying the flag admirably for the Young Azzurri. However, the Glitterball goes to the defensive unit of Sykes, Kilner, Gagen, Radz and Jenko were a brick wall. They defended like it was a personal insult when the ball entered the final third. Congrats, comrades!

TWITTER MOTM – Tom Radley takes it from Will Jenkinson, Luis Afonso Ferreira and Lucas Robinson. Sam Kilner and Will Sykes also polled votes. Thanks to all who voted 😉

SPONSORS/VOLUNTEERS MOTM – Tom Radley was chosen by Graham Kenworthy. Well done, Radz!

220 through the gate. Thank you for such super support on a school night!

To hear the thoughts of the gaffer, Tom Claisse, click here.

To see the matchday programme, click here.

The Blues are next in action on Saturday 6th September when we make the short trip to Parkgate, 3pm kickoff. Hope to see you all there….

#forzafrickley

#FFTD