NPL Division One East
Yorkshire Amateur 0-0 Frickley Athletic
Piteu Crouz’s ‘phantom goal’ was the main talking point from Frickley Athletic’s draw at Yorkshire Amateur in the West Yorkshire derby.
His ‘goal’ and Ammers striker Roy Fogarty’s Lionel Messi to Ronny Rosenthal chance in the final minute were the flash-points of an entertaining stalemate.
Frickley attacker Crouz thought he had scored against his former club on the stroke of half-time and even performed a spectacular celebration near the corner flag.
Precisely what happened remains a mystery but the one clear fact is Crouz fired a low and curling effort towards the bottom corner after cutting inside from the left.
He ran and several others ran off to celebrate, oblivious to the fact the Ammers were on the attack.
The small triangle in the goal is currently the chief suspect in the mystery and many believe the ball hit it and bounced out again.
The idea of Frickley even taking the lead was a pipe dream after the opening 20 minutes.
Backs to the wall is an understatement.
Two banks of four sat deep in front of superb goalkeeper Jordan Pierrepoint and the Ammers were totally dominant.
Their debutant attacker Marko Basic nearly inside 60 seconds but his goal-bound long range effort was tipped over by Pierrepoint.
That set the tone as it was one-way traffic.
Luke Sharry and Luke Dean had acres of space in the middle of the park and once Frickley cleared it kept coming back.
The Ammers wasted a succession of corners throughout the contest but a lack of an aerial threat was perhaps a reason why.
Fogarty had the Ammers’ best first half chance after breaching the Blues’ back-line.
Pierrepoint denied him.
Frickley came alive towards the end of the first half – coinciding with the Crouz ‘goal’.
Frickley chief Dave Frecklington made a triple substitution three minutes into the second half and the reinforcements added more life as the game began to be end-to-end.
Luis Aldard watched an effort get tipped over and home goalkeeper Kyle Trennery had to keep his nerve during a couple of scrambles inside his six-yard box.
Frickley’s defensive unity and willingness to put bodies on the line was underlined when the Ammers were denied three times by last ditch blocks during an almighty scramble.
If everyone present was honest, the Ammers should have won it at the death.
Fogarty did all the hard work, only to fail with the easy part.
The striker showed great technique to somehow get past Danny Burns.
He was literally bearing down on Pierrepoint and yet when he couldn’t miss, the ball hit the side-netting.
What They Said
Yorkshire Amateur joint manager Craig Ogilvie
“If you base it on chances it was a fair result.
“They had a couple of good chances and Kyle (Trennery) has made some good saves.
“We have had some half-chances and not really tested the goalkeeper as much we would have liked to have done.
“In terms of possession it was all us but it isn’t a possession game.
“It is about putting the ball in the back of the net.
“Roy should have scored at the end, there’s no question about that.
“It was a great turn and I think he turned the crowd and he’s just snapped at it.”
On the first 20 minutes: “We knew they were going to set up like that but I didn’t think it would be as defensive as it was.
“To be fair they were organised with it.
“There were two good banks of four and two hard-working strikers up top.
“I thought it was all us in the first 20 but in this league you have to take advantage when you are on top and that’s our problem at the minute we’re not doing that.”
Frickley Athletic manager Dave Frecklington
“I thought it was a fair result.
“I didn’t think both teams did enough to win it.
“They were better than us in the first half and I thought in the second half we had the better chances apart from the one they missed at the end.
“I thought that was in.”
On the first 20 minutes: “Without a doubt (we were lucky), we were hanging on.
“If it wasn’t for the goalkeeper we could have been out of sight.
“Our goalkeeper was outstanding today. He made saves, caught things and his distribution was excellent.
“If it hadn’t been for the goalkeeper we would have been 5-0 down at half-time.”
The Teams
Yorkshire Amateur: Trennery, Beaston, Fishley, Dean, Dempsey, Sharry, Priestley, Basic, Duggan (Rose 71), Stewart, Fogarty. Subs unused: Smalley, Wilden, Bower.
Frickley Athletic: Pierrepoint, Hollingsworth, Goundry (Williams 48), Whitehead, Beatson, Burns, Crouz (Adlard 48), West, Wells (captain), Morton (King 48), Stacey. Subs unused: Everington, Greatorex.
Who Was In Charge
Anthony Tankard (6/10)
How Many Were There
119
Man of the Match
Jordan Pierrepoint (Frickley Athletic)
