Frickley Athletic 2 v East Stirlingshire 6 - PSF

Friday 12th July 2019
Pre Season Friendly
at the Big Fellas Clothing Sizes 2XL to 8XL Stadium
Westfield Lane, South Elmsall
Frickley Athletic (2) 2
Sam Cable 16, Jack McMenemy 40
East Stirlinghshire (1) 6
Peter McDonald 27, 65, Bobby Barr 50, Mark Millar 61, Nicky Low 68, Jamie Dishington 82

Frickley Athletic:
Tom Jackson, Brad Mears, Ben Bodle, Todd Jordan, Jack Harrison, Luke Hogg, Sam Cable, Jack Burton, Jack McMenemy, Johnny Pugh, Jacob Hazel
Subs - Lewis Bowring, Brandon Howard, Liam Carrick, Oliver Russon, Kyle Simpson
East Stirlingshire:
Jamie Barclay, Martin Orr, Reid Peggie, Andy Grant, Jordan Tapping, Evan Horne, Matt Flynn, Mark Millar, Jamie Dishington Peter McDonald, Bobby Barr
Subs - Nicky Low, Jamie Gallagher, Connor Greene, Del Ure, Brian Bell, Andy Shirra, Norrie Bremner

Sam Cable and Johnny Pugh both had shooting opportunities early on, with the former firing wide, while the latter's effort deflected wide for a corner.
The visitors went close when Peter MacDonald flicked a backwards header over the Blues crossbar from Mark Millar's pinpoint free kick. Millar proved to be a thorn in Frickley's side for most of the night, both in open play and through an array of deft touches at set pieces.
Craig Spink's side claimed the lead after sixteen minutes, when Pugh's half volley was charged down and when the ball ran loose towards Cable, his low shot squeezed under the Shire keeper Jamie Barclay and found it's way into the back of the net.

MacDonald went close again, nodding the ball just past the wrong side of the upright from Millar's left wing corner, but the same combination combined again in the twenty seventh minute and the Lowland League side were on level terms, as MacDonald headed into the bottom left hand corner of the net from Millar's long dipping free kick from out on the right hand side of midfield.

Five minutes before the interval, Frickley restored their lead, when Luke Hogg's left wing corner was helped on by Jack Burton and forced over the line by Jack McMenemy.

HT: The Blues 2 v The Shire 1

Frickley supporters of a timid disposition, might want to skip past the remainder of this match overview and wile the remaining time away practising slogans, such as: You can't read too much into these pre-season results. It's all about building up fitness levels with a view to peaking in August. The new signings are still gelling in... and, we're stilling trying out different tactics and players, it's only a practice tonight.

I'm sure we've all resorted to that sort of pack-drill at some point. Usually straight after getting completely over-run and having been given a proper going over, by a side who turned out to be infinitely better than our own on the night.

If the alarm bells hadn't already begun to sound, as regards the link-up play between MacDonald and Millar before the break, not to mention the distribution of Jordan Tapping, who was to all intents and purposes, East Stirlingshire's engine room, then the visitors statement of intent, right from the start of the second half must've served as a warning, when Bobby Barr broke forward at pace, to create a one against one shoot-out against the Blues keeper: Tom Jackson, whose brave save denied Barr on this occasion, but moments later, the Shire number eleven netted the visitors second goal, via a deflection off of Jack Harrison, that gave Jackson just that fraction too much to do.

Jamie Dishington was a whisker away from giving East Stirlingshire the lead, but Jackson thwarted the visitors again, moments before Harrison had to make a clearance off the line from Barr's goal-bound knock.

The visitors scored a third... and it had been coming... when Martin Orr delivered an exquisite long pass down the flank to MacDonald, who forced his way into the Blue area before squaring the ball to Millar, who rolled the ball into the net from close range.

A disgruntled voice in the home crowd boomed: "Change summat Spink!"

And then three minutes later when the Frickley boss substituted all but two of his starting eleven, the same outspoken critic bellowed: "What the bloody hell are you doing now Spink!?"

Err,  I'll have a stab at answering that line of enquiry: "changing summat" perhaps... and giving his whole squad some match time. Blooming heck! Who'd ever have thought that their might be a contradictory big gob making his presence felt on the terraces of the Wezziecana.

Before the new arrivals had even had a chance to assume their positions on the field of play. the Shire scored again, when Barr crashed a shot that ricocheted off of the substitute keeper Lewis Bowring and the ball was 'snaffled up' by MacDonald who stroked it into the now unguarded net.

Yet another forward move from the visitors broke down on the edge of the Blues area and Shaun Carrington moved across sharply to make a clearance, but as he put his foot through the ball in an attempt to turn defence into attack, his kick crashed against Nicky Low and rebounded back towards the Frickley goal, where it looped over Bowring's head and beyond his grasp.

The Shire were still in the hunt for goals and Bowring did well to get his body behind a well struck effort by Evan Horne from the edge of the area.

But there was little that an unsighted Bowring could do to keep out Dishington's shot through a crowd of legs, after MacDonald had rolled a square pass to him, with eight minutes left to play, that saw East Stirlingshire rounded off an impressive second half display with their sixth goal of the night.

FT: Frickley Athletic 2 v East Stirlingshire 6

There wasn't much to choose between the two sides in the first half, but, with all due respect, in truth, they probably both got what they deserved for their respective efforts in the second.

'Twas great to catch up with my many good pals in South Elmsall again tonight... and the jovial visiting supporters were a very friendly crowd too. 

Enjoy your football travels... and those Rudimentary Peni records too ;-)