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Saturday 15th March - Frickley Athletic 1-0 Vauxhall Motors

The Blues gained a crucial win against high flying Vauxhall Motors to move within 3 points of Blyth Spartans and 4 of Gateshead in the battle to avoid the relegation play-off spot.

With Paul Marquis and Curtis Bernard both recovering from the illness that kept them out of Tuesday night's win at Worksop, they both came back into the side. However, Chris Newton was missing through an injury picked up at Worksop but Gary Hatto returned after suspension to take up a place on the subs bench alongside new signing Matt Daly.

The visitors went close early on with Terry Fearns volleying wide of the right hand post from 20 yards after just 7 minutes whilst on 16 minutes Mark Samways pulled off a good save to palm away a sidefooted 18 yard shot from Kevin Lynch. The Blues took the lead with their first meaningful attack on 22 minutes. Bernard sent over a lobbed cross from the left which bounced over Lee Morris to fall kindly for STEVE ROBINSON whose miss-hit shot from 15 yards bobbled past goalkeeper Andy Ralph and intro the bottom left hand corner from 15 yards. Vauxhall responded with Steve Aspinall hitting a 22 yard free-kick straight at Samways whilst on 38 minutes Fearns got on the end of a long ball into the box but dragged his shot wide of the right hand post.

The second half saw the Blues dig in deep to preserve their lead whilst also seeing Vauxhall squander some good chances. On 52 minutes a defensive slip-up let in Robbie Lawton but Antony Jackson got back to clear the danger and two minutes later Fearns got away from the Blues' defence but his angled 20 yardshot bobbled wide of the left hand post. Both sides made substitutions on 65 minutes with Gary Hatto replacing Robinson and Peter Cumiskey and Carl Nesbitt replacing Phil Brazier and Robbie Lawton for Vauxhall. Four minutes later Marquis met a Hatto corner with a powerful header which soared over the bar. Kevin Lynch then hit a rising 22 yard shot over the bar before Vauxhall looked odds on to equalise but Samways pulled off a great double save. Nesbitt made a good run through midfield before feeding Fearns who got clear in the box but Samways got down well to block his shot only for the ball to run back to Fearns with the goal at his mercy but the ball got stuck under hit feet, allowing Samways to block again before Mark Hancock cleared the danger. Fearns missed another chance on 83 minutes when he headed a deep cross from the left wide when unmarked in the box but the Blues came close to snatching a second goal on 87 minutes when Jackson's deep free-kick from half-way was headed back by Morris to Hatto who teed up Steve Woolford but the midfielder blasted over from 8 yards. 

Frickley Athletic : Samways, Reece, O'Brien, Robinson (Hatto 65), Jackson, Marquis, Hancock, Woolford, Morris, Bernard (Richards 85), Lindley. Unused sub. Daly

Vauxhall Motors : Ralph, Ward, McDermott, Brazier (Cumiskey 65), Tomlinson, C. Robinson, Aspinall, Lynch, Fearns, Young (Haddrell 59), Lawton (Nesbitt 65)

Attendance : 184

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