North Ferriby v Frickley Athletic

Recap

North Ferriby 1 Frickley 1

In the week that Burt Bacharach sadly passed away, Lloydy’s first half penalty was one of those Magic Moments that had us Wishin’ And Hopin’ for a remarkable triumph. Anyone Who Had A Heart would’ve wanted to see the 10-man Blues side hold out but North Ferriby were surely saying Don’t You Believe It as they nicked a late leveller.

Two changes from Tuesday as Callum Beaumont and Wade Ripley come in for Kofi Appiah and Nathan Moss, into the starting lineup.

The home side, and runaway league leaders, had the majority of the possession in the opening stages, hitting the bar, blazing over and heading straight at Harrison Davison-Hale in the first half an hour.

The Azzurri held firm and in the 35th minute quick play on the edge of the box, including a sublime flick from The Colonel, gave Josh Haigh a chance to cross but the Ferriby fullback was adjudged to have handled in the area, penner awarded. From where I was stood, Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce will do well to get as much hand on a Patrick Mahomes pass in tonight’s Super Bowl 😀

Lloyd Smith duly dispatched the spot kick. That goal was the first Ferriby had conceded at home since last November and it put them behind in a game for the first time, home or away, since that very same month.

Ferriby redoubled their efforts and, in the last minute of the half, sent a bullet header just wide. HT 0-1.

The second period couldn’t have started in a worse manner as The Blues were down to 10 men when the ref showed Big Al Keita a rather soft second yellow and subsequent red card in the 52nd minute.

The following forty minutes saw wave after wave of Ferriby attacks. HDH equally made save after save as The Azzurri’s backs were against the wall.

Just as it looked like The Blues might take all three points, Ferriby equalised in time added on, finally bundling in one of the long throws they’d been utilising all afternoon.

Benno’s men survived an even later scare when Ferriby headed onto the roof of the net but the final whistle ended matters almost immediately after. FT 1-1.

As disappointing as it was not to win after leading going into injury time, I’m sure we’d all have taken the point at 3pm. And what a performance that was. Down to 10 men against the team in top spot, The Boys in Blue hung on for dear life and were only pegged back at the death. Do that every week and the spectre of relegation will be a distant memory. The win is coming, in the words of the late Burt Bacharach, Any Day Now!

WEBMASTER MOTM – The lads played for the shirt, defending like demons and running their collective blood to water. HDH was absolutely outstanding in goal and the back five of Hall, Murillo, El Binno, Owen and Haigh were granite hard and just as immovable. Beaumont and The Colonel were terrier-like in their speed and aggression in the engine room. Wade and the unfortunate Big Al were industrious, whilst Lloydy showed a steel and maturity that belies his years. And his penalty was ice cold. The subs slotted in seamlessly as well. So The Glitterball simply has to go to the whole side. Made us all proud to be Blues. Superb, Sirs!

TWITTER MOTM – The public agreed as Everyone won it ahead of the Whole Team, From number 1 to 17 and All of them. And rightly so 😉 Thanks to all who voted.

A whopping 601 were in attendance with plenty making the trip down the M62 from SE. Thank you for your loyal and vocal support.

The Blues are next in action on Tuesday evening, 14th February, when we take on another of the high flyers, Winterton Rangers, 7.45pm kickoff. I can’t think of a better, more romantic place to take your significant other on Valentine’s Day so hope to see you all there…