A penalty scored by Steve Price only a minute after the visitors had taken the lead gave the Blues a point that they barely deserved against Droylsden. Graham Lewis, a forward from Lincoln City, made his debut up front and looked lively but the received little support.

Droylsden started in a lively fashion with Andy Carney doing well to block a close range shot by Peel after just 6 minutes and it took 13 minutes for the Blues to create their first opening. When they did, however, Chris Hurst went close to opening the scoring when he met a corner from the right with a header which Phillips saved well to his left, although the ground took the power out of the effort. A minute later Lewis robbed a defender on the right and crossed to the far post where Ian Edge almost caught Phillips out with a chip but it fell wide of the goal. Despite these couple of openings Droylsden continued to enjoy most of the play and Holmes hit a tame shot wide when well placed on the half hour mark. Two minutes later Frickley's problems were evident when Dean Jones played a brilliant ball out of defence which sent Gary Duffty clear down the right. His cross went over Lewis but the visitor's centre half had time to chest the loose ball down to allow Phillips to collect as no other Blues' player was close. Droylsden again went close on 41 minutes when Johnston fired wide from the edge of the box.

The second half saw the Blues willing to commit more men to the attack but Droylsden still forced most of the pace. Edge created himself a glorious opportunity just two minutes after the break when he picked the ball up on half way, ran at the defence and broke into the box, beating two men in the process, but he finished by shooting straight into the keeper's arms from around 15 yards. At the other end, Stannard got clear but shot wide from the edge of the box whilst on 55 minutes Jones had a 25 yard free-kick well saved for the Blues. Then, on 61 minutes Droylsden got the goal they had been threatening to score when Landon turned a fired in from 12 yards with the Blues defence stood appealing for handball. However, just a minute later Frickley were presented with a chance to level the scores when Duffty was pushed to the ground from behind in the box and the referee awarded the penalty. PRICE then made no mistake from the spot. On 65 minutes Lewis received a throw-in on the edge of the box and he turned and shot well but it went wide and Lewis again made an opening on 82m minutes when he turned the last defender inside out before firing high and wide. At the death Droylsden almost snatched a winner as Stannard broke clear in the box but he dragged his effort wide.

All in all, a disappointing performance from the Blues with the only encouraging sign being the display of Lewis. We'll definitely need to raise our game if we are to get something out of the game at Stalybridge next Saturday.

Frickley Athletic : Carney, Hilton, Lafferty, Jones, West, Hanby, Lewis, Price, Duffty, Hurst, Edge. Subs. Cranston, Matt. Wilkinson, McAreavey.

Droylsden : Phillips, Lattie, Ashton, Johnston, Rigby, Holmes, Stannard, Morley, Landon, Peel, Warner. Subs. Young, Gibbons, Prior

Attendance : 119