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Tuesday 19th November - Hucknall Town 1-0 Frickley Athletic

The Blues suffered a single goal defeat at Hucknall Town after playing the final 50 minutes without Mark Hancock, who was harshly sent off for a foul which hardly deserved a booking, let alone a straight red card (or, as someone commented, was it just because he was Mark Hancock?). Phil Sharpe introduced a new signing, Chris Newton, up front alongside Andy Evans with Curtis Bernard relegated to the subs. bench.

After arriving late following horrendous traffic problems on both the M1 and A1, the game kicked off at 7.55pm. The Blues had a good chance after just 5 minutes when a defensive mistake let in Ryan Williams but his angled drive went over the bar.. An even better chance came on 21 minutes when Evans fed Williams down the left who sent over a great cross which Lee Morris just failed to connect with but Newton returned the ball to the danger area where Evans' shot was deflected wide. Unfortunately, Williams was forced off on 33 minutes through injury and he was replaced by Nigel Henstock. Almost immediately, a long ball forward found Evans inside the box and his shot on the turn was blocked by Hucknall keeper Ryan Young, only for the ball to hit the advancing Newton and rebound into Young's arms. The, on 40 minutes came the incident which changed the game. Hancock made a rash challenge on half way which maybe deserved a booking but the referee showed him the red card and the Blues were up against it. Just minutes later the assistant referee with the yellow flag, Mr Brady, contrived to get both Chris Gowen and Hucknall's Gareth Holmes booked. Holmes clearly fouled Gowen just feet from Mr Brady who stood starting into space whilst Gowen and Holmes then started to take matters into their own hand, resulting in a booking for both - had the assistant flagged for the initial foul then these booking probably wouldn't have been needed.

The second half saw the Blues seemingly willing to let Hucknall come forward, absorb the pressure and look to score on the break where as the home side hardly looked like scoring at all. On 55 minutes Hucknall's Jones shot into the side netting whilst on 59 minutes, a good break down the left by Morris led to Evans' shooting wide of the left hand post. Two minutes later Newton laid the ball off well to Morris who shot over from 18 yards when he perhaps had more time. At the other end Mark Samways pulled off a great one handed save to deny Mayman whilst on 69 minutes Samways blocked a close range shot before Gaunt's follow-up was cleared off the line. Then, on 73 minutes Antony Jackson and Paul Marquis both went up for a high ball with Cooke who went down under the pressure, with the referee pointing to the spot. Hucknall player/manager Phil Starbuck stepped up to score with the penalty. This seemed to sting the Blues into action as they forced more pressure in the last 10 minutes of the half as they had done in the previous 35. Andy Evans forced a mistake from keeper Young when he hooked the ball high in the air before jumping with the keeper who dropped the ball but was thankful for it rolling wide of the left hand upright and the Blues forced 3 quick corners but couldn't conjure up an equaliser.

Frickley Athletic : Samways, Richards, Gowen, Elkin, Jackson, Marquis (Bernard 79), Hancock, Morris, Evans, Newton (Sharpe 88), Williams (Henstock 33).

Attendance : 156 

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