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Thursday 17th July - Frickley Athletic 1-1 Derby County

The Blues kicked off their home pre-season games with a well deserved draw against a strong Derby County reserve side. Duncan Richards and Lee Morris both started the game after being absent on Saturday through holiday commitments whilst Assistant Manager Mark Hancock looked after the side in the absence of Phil Sharpe who is on holiday.

A liveley opening to the game saw both sides go close before the Blues took the lead on 32 minutes. PHIL LINDLEY met a left wing corner with a great header at the near post which left Derby 'keeper Liam Richards no chance.  Four minutes later Mark Samways pulled off a great save to deny Gary Twigg. 

Half time saw both sides make substitutions with the Blues replacing Curtis Bernard with Adam Russell, Lee Pugh with Terry Taylor (both from Brodsworth) and Mark Lafferty replacing Paul Marquis. Russell had a good chance to increase the Blues' lead when he found himself unmarked in space in the box but Richards blocked his angled shot well with his legs. On 67 minutes Samways pulled of another good save to collect a low 18 yard shot but on 74 minutes Derby drew level as Twigg collected a cross into the box to flick it over his head and crack an unstoppable shot past Samways. Four minutes from the end Antony Jackson headed just over the bar from a corner whilst in the last minute Derby's Barry Melloy hit the bar from 10 yards.

All in all the performance was good, with a good goals cored by both sides. In fact the only disappointing aspect was the low crowd of around 200 for a game against a First Division side which inluded numerous players with First Team Experience.

Frickley Athletic : Samways, Lee Pugh (Terry Taylor 45), Richards, Robinson (Ryan Till 57), Jackson, Marquis (Mark Lafferty 45), Lindley (Hancock 80), Nesa (Stuart Preston 61), Morris (Mark Vicarge 57 (Lindley 85)), O'Brien (Hatto 68), Bernard (Russell 45) 

Derby County : Richards, Hunt, Turner, Dean, Mills (Huddleston 45), Murray (Doyle 68), Melloy, Bolder (Audozic 45), McLeod (Cassidy 45), Twigg (Hamilton 75), Palmer

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