Tadcaster Albion U23 i2i United 0 Frickley U23 5
A strong all-round team performance, including a Charlie Clegg treble, carried The Young Azzurri to a relatively comfortable 5-0 win over the catchily-named Tadcaster Albion U23 i2i United on the 3G at York St John’s last night.
The Young Blues, playing in green, took the lead around the quarter of an hour mark when Ben Ellison-Tope smashed a shot into the stanchion.
And it was 2-0 less than 10 minutes later when Charlie Clegg got on the end of a through ball from Josh Haigh and tucked the ball under the keeper.
Cleggy had two more decent chances before the break and Frickley hit the bar from a free kick but went in just two goals to the good at half time.
It was more of the same in the second period. Haigh had a couple of opportunities to shoot but came to nought. Then Cleggy hit a quick fire double to put the result beyond doubt. The first came in the 55th minute as Wade Ripley’s pinpoint cross found Clegg 6 yards out and he made no mistake to make it 3-0.
Cleggy completed his hat trick almost straight from the restart when The Baby Blues won a corner and Clegg nipped in at the front post to nick it past the keeper.
Josh Haigh, Ben ET and Wade Ripley continued to pepper the Taddy goal before Mo El-Sayed stepped up to slot in number five with 5 minutes remaining.
A tasty mix of passing football and a directness of approach made for another very watchable display from Frickley’s Young Guns. If you’re at a loose end when these boys are playing, you could do far worse than get yourself down to check ‘em out.
The poacher Charlie Clegg was on fire but Manager Martin Beaumont deservedly awarded the Bob Smith Man of the Match award to Josh Haigh. Normally I’d say he ran his blood to water for the team but remarkably, after putting in such a shift, Josh still looked as if he could’ve done another 90 minutes at the full time whistle. Congrats Josh!
Finally. couple of special mentions. Firstly, to our keeper, whose name I didn’t catch – sorry, but he’s an outfield player who went in the net and has only gone and kept a cleano. And to Andy Haigh, Josh’s dad, who kept us all updated whilst I was being Dad taxi for the first 25 minutes of the game and was of repeated assistance in identifying players. Cheers bros!
