Pontefract Collieries F C v Frickley Athletic

Recap

Pontefract Collieries 5 Frickley 0

The El Classicoal went the way of the hosts, Ponte Colls, on a rather heavy pitch for a game in July. The emphatic scoreline merely served to underline their higher league status.

For the first half an hour The Azzurri more than held their own. A surging run by Lloydy was headed agonisingly wide by a diving Big Al. And, but for ‘enthusiastic’ flagging from the liner, a couple more decent chances would’ve been on offer.

Ponte had a pair of sighters, shooting wide twice in quick succession, before largely putting the game to bed in the space of 10 minutes or so.

On the half hour, a foul on Morgan James in midfield wasn’t given, Ponte immediately got the ball out wide, and the resulting cross was headed in for the opener.

Eight minutes later, Ponte got a second. And two minutes on from that, a dangerous ball in from the right was slotted away by Ponte.

Big Al skimmed the bar with an effort from 20 yards on the stroke of halftime but the home side went in three goals to the good at the break. HT 3-0

Ponte started the second half in a similar attacking vein with a scuff, a rising shot and a header all going wide.

Just before the hour mark, Big Ank, on as sub, had The Blues’ best goalscoring opportunity of the half. Ellz MA beat the keeper but his shot was well blocked by the defender.

However, with 25 minutes to play, Ponte extended their lead, heading home from a corner.

The scoreline was given an even more flattering look when, in and amongst a little flurry of Ponte free kicks around the box, all wide or well held by Bradbury, a defensive mix up allowed Ponte to go five up.

Any late attacks by The Azzurri were snuffed out by foul means or fair as Ponte saw out the final minutes in relative comfort. FT 5-0

It was a tough night in tough conditions. But it’s put more miles in the legs and given the gaffer some stuff to work on in training. And considering that the match was in doubt in the afternoon, due to the rain, it was good to get a game at all.

WEBMASTER MOTM – we tried to play football until the end, even if the pitch and the situation weren’t always conducive to it. Lots of dogged performances out there, from The Elk, Varls, The Colonel and Josh Haigh in particular. Big Al and Lloydy linked up very well, in the first half especially. But the Glitterball goes to Lewis Binns. On a difficult night for defenders, he kept coming back for more, time and time again. Bravo El Binno!

To hear the thoughts of the assistant manager, Blake Campbell, click here, and manager, Pat McGuire, click here.

267 through the gate with plenty from SESKU in attendance. Thank you all for your loyal support in such grotty conditions!

The Blues are next in action on Saturday when Basford United are our visitors. Please note that this game will kickoff at the earlier time of 1pm. Hope to see you all there….