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Saturday 14th August - Ossett Albion 0-2 Frickley Athletic

The Blues earned a morale-boosting victory at UniBond First Division side Ossett Albion in their final pre-season game due to two second half strikes from Gary Hatto. Albion fielded former Frickley players Andy Carney, Jon Wordsworth, Danny Toronczak and Gary Duffty whilst Phil Sharpe had two Latvian triallists, Janis Zujevs and Andreys Semjonovs, on the bench.

The Blues created numerous chances during the first half but were unable to take any of them. First, on 11 minutes, Mark Vickerage sent Remo Nesa clear into the box but he struggled to control the ball and his final shot under pressure went just wide. Minutes later Steve Woolford hit a cracking 30 yard volley which flew inches wide of the left hand post. The home side went close on 22 minutes when Toronczak forced the ball past Mark Shackleton to Mick Norbury but Matthew Plant did brilliantly to block the resulting shot for a corner. The Blues were soon back on the offensive and Vickerage teed up Wayne Benn but he sidefooted his 20 yard shot over the bar. On 27 minutes Phil Lindley's poor headed back-pass fell to Tornczak but Shackleton pulled off a great stop to deny him. Almost immediately Nesa saw his 18 yard shot zip just wide whilst on 37 minutes Troy Bennett cut in from the right but saw his low shot turned around the post by Carney. Just before half time Bennett rose to meet Benn's free-kick but his header went just the wrong side of the far post.

Half time saw the introduction of James Walker, Janis Zujevs and Andreys Semjonovs with the latter two playing up front and Walker wide on the right. The first chance of the second half fell to Albion but Shackleton pushed Toronczak's angled shot around the post. On 56 minutes Bennett saw his low 20 yard shot turned around the post by Carney whilst on 63 minutes Ossett's Downes was unlucky to see his curling 20 yard shot drift just wide of the far post. Ten minutes later the Blues took the lead. Zujevs was pushed to the ground in the box and GARY HATTO stepped up to score from the spot. Three minutes later the Referee spotted another infringement in the box and awarded the Blues yet another spot-kick. This time Phil Sharpe instructed Semjonovs to take the spot-kick which was saved by Carney, who then blocked the follow-up from Semjonovs  before Walker blazed over the bar. Lee Wilkinson then flicked a left wing cross on to Walker who turned and volleyed just wide. On 79 minutes the Blues extended their lead when HATTO hit a low 20 yard shot which nestled just inside the right hand corner. Norbury looked odds-on to pull a goal back for the home side with 10 minutes to play but Shackleton did brilliantly to deny him from point blank range.

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