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Saturday 13th November - Frickley Athletic 2-1 Burscough

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After Burscough missed a first half penalty the Blues took their chances well in the second half to lead 2-0 through Richard Tracey and substitute Adam Russell, although the Blues were forced on the back foot in the dying minutes after Burscough pulled a goal back ojn 89 minutes.

Manager Gary Marrow, made a couple of changes to the starting line-up as he brought back leading scorer Richard Tracey up front after missing the last few games through injury and new signing Matt Daly started in a defence comprising of 3 centre-backs.

The Blues had an early chance after just 3 minutes when Lee Pugh's free-kick from half way was flicked on by Simon Collins for Steve Woolford but his angled shot from 12 yards was deflected wide. Good work by Pugh then saw him tee up Collins but his 20 yard shot flew just wide of the left hand post. A minute later it was Pugh's turn as he received a throw-in from the left, advanced towards goal and left fly from 22 yards but his shot again went wide of the left hand post. Burscough were offering very little threat to a rejuvenated Blues side who had a good chance to take the lead after 30 minutes. Paul Bradley's cross from the right was scuffed half clear by Michael White as far as Steve McNulty on the edge of the box but Tracey did well to win the ball off him only to scuff his shot from 12 yards inches wide of the right hand upright. Two minutes later Woolford was harshly adjudged to have brought down Liam Blakeman in the penalty area and the referee immediately awarded a penalty. Karl Bell stepped up to drill his spot-kick against the foot of the right hand post and the ball was then cleared. As half time neared the visitors had a couple of tame shots that failed to trouble Ingham.

At half time Matt Moran replaced the ill Collins but within a minute of the restart Burscough's Gary Martindale found himself in a good position on the edge of the Blues' box but sliced his shot well wide. A minute later Woolford sent TRACEY clear and, under pressure from White, he coolly struck a rising shot over the advancing Newnes from 25 yards to give the Blues the lead. on 55 minutes Martindale laid the ball into the path of the onrushing Jeff Underwood but he could only fire over the bar from 16 yards. Shortly afterwards Paul Gedman did manage to get the ball in the Blues' net but the Assistant Referee had already signalled for offside before Gedman received the ball. On the hour mark Adam Oldham replaced Paul Bradley and shortly afterwards the blues went agonisingly close to increasing their lead. After forcing a couple of corners, Daly rose to power in a header from Calum Selby's flag-kick which beat Newnes but was headed off the line. Burscough then started to enjoy more possession and created a few more chances. The Blues had a let-off when a low free-kick from the right flew across the face of goal without anyone getting a touch. However, the Blues all but wrapped up the win on 85 minutes. Woolford won the ball on the left and released RUSSELL who ran from just inside his own half to beat Newnes from just outside the box. Burscough pulled a goal back 4 minutes later when Daly missed his clearance as the ball bobbled as attempted to clear, allowing Gedman to take the ball around Ingham and slide it into the empty net. This left the Blues' fans to endure a nervous last couple of minutes but the Blues held out to take a deserved 3 points.