Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup Semi Final
at Sheerien Park, Ollerton Road, Athersley North
Shaw Lane AFC (3) 3
Chib Chilaka 1, 15, 23
Frickley Athletic (0) 1
Gavin Allott 90+
Admission £5. Programme £1.50. Attendance 265
The South Elmsall sides 2017-18 campaign has, on the whole, provided their fans with more peaks than troughs... but tonight; well, to be honest, it was akin to slipping into cruise control and smashing head on into a brick wall, as Chib Chilaka bagged a hat trick for himself by the midway point of the first half. Which effectively brought the visitors season to an abrupt and stuttering halt.
In a nutshell, they thoroughly deserved this win and their prize of a forthcoming night out at Bramall Lane, in the Sheffield & Hallamshire Cup Final against Penistone Church, on Tuesday 22nd May (7.45PM), a game they had all but claimed their place in well before half time, as they made a rampant start, while Frickley initially stalled from the outset and failed to get going in the critical areas of the pitch, until almost the end of the first half.
The ex Ducks front man, Gavin Allott, tried to provide an immediate response, but his shot on the run from just inside the right hand side of the area was high and wide of the target, while Jacob Hazel was thwarted from making progress on the right flank, as the Ducks keeper, Myles Wright, rushed from his area to head the ball away to safety.
Chilaka almost netted a second goal for the home side inside the opening ten minutes, when Gav Rotherby's cross deflected up into the air which presented the lively number nine with a great opportunity to head the ball into the top left corner of the Frickley goal, but it fell inches wide of the post.
Godwin Abadaki, with his low centre of gravity and obvious strength, was proving to be a thorn in the backside for the visitors defence, and combining well with Gordon who frequently made himself available on the overlap.
It was 2-0 after a quarter of a hour, when Frickley failed to deal with a right wing corner and Chilaka pounced to drill the ball into the bottom left hand corner of their net, from virtually the same spot that he'd opened the scoring.
But Shaw Lane gave themselves an opportunity to shut up shop (and effectively, that is what they did) when Chilaka ran into the visitors area, weaved his way past three statues wearing green and white shirts and upon reaching his favourite shooting spot, drilled the ball into the same corner again.
But they didn't. Nor did any sort of comeback ever appear to be on the cards.
Which, by the same token, meant that there was still a lot of this game still remaining for the Frickley faithful who had made to short journey to Athersley North, to endure.
Another dipping left wing delivery from Gordon found Chilaka, who connected well with a glancing header that Stancliffe did well to save at full stretch.
Spencer Fearn's side ended the first half with a bit of a flurry around Wright's goal, without unduly troubling the Shaw Lane keeper any.
HT: Ducks 3 v Blues (AKA Greens) 0
A combination of the visitors showing a bit more of themselves (but only a little bit) after the break, while Shaw Lane had a comfort zone to sit back in and allow Frickley to commit men forward while leaving gaps to exploit, led to a a stalemate developing inside the Ducks half, but not far enough into the home sides territory to warrant much of a mention, to be honest.
There was a comedy moment when the hosts keeper misjudged the flight and bounce of the ball, leaving it to sail over his head without going for it... and then having to make a nifty catch as it crashed back off of his crossbar.
Allott was battling for everything still and coming deep in an effort to win the ball and get his teammates to play something at least resembling attacking football, against his former side, but as the second half merely petered out, as the clock seemed to running down painfully slow, towards the games inevitable and all but nailed on conclusion.
The away side did finally find a way through their hosts, tight as a gnat's ring piece, defence, when Allott bludgeoned his way through on Wright's goal in stoppage time, before beating him from eight yards out, in what, according to my watch, was the ninety fourth minute.
The full time whistle sounded straight after the Ducks restarted the game... and that was that.
Chris Willcock's team are heading to Sheffield for what should be a decent cup final, between two sides who like to get the ball down and play. I'm already looking forward to it.
FT: Shaw Lane AFC 3 v Frickley Athletic 1
Frickley must now galvanise, both as a team and a fan base... and build on the progress that has been made at Westfield Lane this season.
The club has steered away from the choppy seas that it almost perished in not so long ago, where disparate groups, hell bent on splitting the ranks and bickering among themselves, were starting to undermine the very survival of the club as a credible entity. People need to consign all of that bollocks to the past once and for all. Those who don't learn from the lessons of history of doomed to repeat them. But the future is still unwritten... and people need to move onto the next chapter together, sans any petty agendas and outdated personal grievances, because that, and that alone, is the way forward.
