Evo Stik Premier Division
Stamford 1-0 Frickley Athletic
Frickley Athletic manager Karl Rose
Frickley’s good recent run of results came to an abrupt end as they went down to an 88th minute headed goal at Stamford.
The home side had already had two goals ruled out for offside earlier in the second half when Jake Newman rose to head in at the back post following a right wing corner.
Unsurprisingly, Karl Rose stuck with the same side that beat Buxton convincingly on Tuesday evening but the opening exchanges were fairly even. Paul Malone fired an angled shot well wide from close range following a left wing corner in the 7th minute whilst the Blues responded three minutes later with Luke Hinsley seeing his 15 yard shot deflected just wide following Sam Akeroyd’s corner.
Tom Batchelor’s close range shot from another Stamford corner was straight at Sebastian Malkowski in the 15th minute but the Blues had their first claim for a penalty turned down a few minutes later as Curtis Hartley tugged Tyler Williams shirt and then brought him down as he cut into the box by the goal line on the left but the claims were waved away by referee David Plowright.
Akeroyd and Tom Davie combined down the right for Davie to send over a great cross which was just inches too high for the onrushing James Walshaw to meet in front of goal.
A great run through the middle by Williams in the 34th minute saw him release Jacob Hazel whose close range lob was blocked by goalkeeper Paul Bastock and was cleared for a corner before Walshaw could pounce with the goal at his mercy.
Four minutes later Williams burst into the box from the left and was again brought down for what looked to be a certain penalty but again the claims were waved away.
Hinsley went close again on 42 minutes when his back header just looped over the bar following Akeroyd’s free-kick on the left but as the clock moved into the 45th minute Macaulay Parkinson and Steven Jeff collided with both challenging the same player for the ball with Parkinson coming off worst and having to be replaced by Brad Grayson. Davie moved to the centre of the defence whilst Akeroyd dropped back to right full back.
Within seconds the home side broke with Gregg Smith sprinting away down the right before crossing for the unmarked Conor Green to amazingly fire wide from 15 yards with just Malkowski to beat.
The home side took advantage of the Blues being forced to reshuffle their side and forced the pace for most of the second half. Jordan Smith and Gregg Smith both had goals ruled out for offside in quick succession early in the second half before the latter forced Malkowski into a smart save to block his angled shot in the 59th minute.
Two minutes later Walshaw sent Grayson away down the right but his shot was blocked as he cut into the box but he somehow managed to knock the ball goalwards as he fell to the ground only for Batchelor to clear off the line.
Malkowski saved well from Jordan Smith in the 82nd minute but Stamford made the breakthrough in the 88th minute when Jake Newman met a deep left win corner at the far post to past Malkowski despite Davie’s best efforts to clear off the line.
Newman had another chance in the second minute of stoppage time when he broke away from half way but Malkowski produced another good save to deny him.
Stamford: Bastock, Hartley, Jackson, Malone, Batchelor,Hill, Beeson, McGrath, Smith, Smith, Green (Newman). Subs unused: Duffy, Jepson, Wightwick, Perry.
Frickley Athletic: Malkowski, Davie, Jeff, Hinsley, Cyrus, Parkinson (Grayson 45), Akeroyd, Lenighan, Hazel, Walshaw, Williams. Unused subs. Wood, Wakefield, Stratford, Hood.
Referee: Mr. D. Plowright.
Attendance: 259
Thanks to Steve Pennock for this report.