Newcastle Town v Frickley Athletic

Recap

There used to be an old trope about cricketer Monty Panesar that said he didn’t play 50 Tests for England but that he played 1 Test 50 times….& that could be levelled at our performance yesterday & on Tuesday vs Marine. We totally dominated the first half with some great football, but didn’t put the game to bed; fell victim to a 2nd half sucker punch goal & couldn’t find any response.

Frecks had to shuffle the pack a little with Brad Grayson, Nathan Hotte & Kern Miller unavailable – with Scunthorpe loanees Charlie Barks & Fin Shrimpton (more of these 2 later) coming into the squad.

We should have had the dream start – penalty awarded on 8 minutes. Margs pulled the panenka out…it hit the crossbar & was cleared. 3 inches lower & it goes in & he’s a hero……fine margins. We had enough full & half chances in the half to be coasting – Nylenel with a couple, Jarms with a couple, Margs with a decent chance & Charlie Barks getting forward to nod one just wide before half time.

We had more chances in the 2nd half – the most notable being Jarms curling one from outside the box that hit the outside of the post.

But Newcastle took the lead on 73 minutes & we couldn’t find a way back after that.

The overriding worry will be that we’ve not scored for 2 matches on the bounce – can’t remember the last time that happened. Anyway we get a chance to put all that right on Tuesday when we entertain Belper in a league game at the Sika Everbuild Wezzie, kick off 7:45pm. You can get your digital tickets here (as well as your season ticket). Come on everyone, get behind the boys.

Here’s what The Gaffer thought about the game

WEBMASTER MOTM – the back line were strong, with Todd & Barks anchoring it to allow Tyler & James Hugo (who gets better every time I see him) freedom to attack. Everington is a real engine in midfield – does all the dirty work & tidying up. Wightwick was the stand out player up top – & he came in for some brutal treatment as a result. But the best player on the park by some way for debutant Fin Shrimpton – 18 years old, but showed all the composure of someone who’d been doing the business for years. His first Glitterball!!

TWITTER POLL MOTM – backs up the above. Fin polled 105 of the 156 votes cast (the attendance was 188……) with Wightwick, Barks & Hugo also polling. Thank you to everyone who voted.

Big numbers of Blues fans in the crowd once again – thank you to everyone who travelled.