Gresley 1 Frickley 0

An uphill struggle

The Blues were down to the bare bones yesterday afternoon, as a result of injuries & suspensions. Bravo to the players who put their hands up & pulled their boots on when they really should have been recovering.

Having said that we had enough chances to put the game to bed before the (easy to award) penalty that ultimately separated the teams. Gav & Haze set up JB but his shot was saved. Straight after that Gav had a shot well saved & then JB had another chance from a header after great work by McGuire from a corner. Then James Morris set up an opportunity for Patts but his shot was deflected out.

Penalty was awarded when Wallis was adjudged to have brought down the onrushing Gresley forward & the home team made it 1 nil from the spot. The rest of the half was played predominantly in midfield with little to trouble either keeper.

HALF TIME - GRESLEY 1 FRICKLEY 0

Gav broke the defence but his shot was well saved by the keeper early on.

Spen changed his troops around, bringing Craig Spink on for James Moz & moved Teddy Bloor into a more attacking role & replaced Akeem Hinds with Liam Carrick.

Johno Williams struck a cracking free kick just wide from outside of the box & JB chipped over after good work by Gav & he also had a shot deflected into the keepers hands.

Lewis Szanto replaced Patts but wasn't able to repeat his late goal for the U21s on Thursday. Frickley had one final chance when Danny Rowe blazed over from a corner.

The players never stopped trying but didn't have the necessary guile to unlock Gresley.

WEBMASTER MOTM - Williams did well orchestrating midfield & James Morris had his best (outfield) game for us but the stand out player was the returning Teddy Bloor. He picked up from where he left off last season, getting stuck in & storming up & down the left wing & so he picks up his first Glitterball of the season.

220 through the gate, probably 20-25% of them were Frickley fans - magnificent support once again.

We should have additional bodies available for the game on Wednesday (away at Lincoln) with Ben Algar & The Shef (& possibly Jameel after his nasty head wound) returning. The other main concern for Spencer is that we can't seem to buy a goal at the moment & we don't seem confident in the box, a complete reversal on last season. Come on boys, you're better than this!!