Frickley Athletic 1-0 Steels

Stocksbridge Park Steels were left frustrated after falling to a 1-0 defeat against Frickley Athletic.

The only goal of the game came close towards the end of the first half when Roy Orlando-Young burst through the defence before finishing past the goalkeeper.

The game started off with little excitement as both teams opted for a long ball approach which didn’t see much creativity on the pitch. In the end, the man trying to create a spark was Orlando-Young. He caused the first fright when he flashed a shot-cum-cross across goal with no one being able to get onto the end of it.

Orlando-Young should have given Frickley the lead not long after when he turned his defender in order to create space for himself in the box. He got into the six-yard box but somehow hit the ball over when that close to the net.

With Stocksbridge struggling to create anything at the other end, one of the few attempts was a Josh Nodder attempt which went wide, it wasn’t a huge shock when Frickley finally got their goal and it was through the man you’d have expected. Orlando-Young received a good ball into the box and this time he made no mistake when he blasted past Michael Roxburgh. Stocksbridge reacted well and Nodder forced a save from Jordan Pierrepont but the half ended with Frickley leading.

In the second half, Frickley continued to have most of the ball. They came close to doubling the lead when after a corner, the ball ricocheted towards the goal a few times with Roxburgh making a key save as well as the defenders making important blocks to keep Stocksbridge in the match.

Ben Partridge was brought on and made a quick impact. He wasn’t far off his first goal for the Steels when he finished off a good move in the box with a powerful shot but it’d be right at Pierrepont who did well to keep hold of it.

In the second half, the game was disrupted by the referee making his impact. Frustration did boil over and bookings were given out for seemingly minor things which harmed the flow of a game that already wasn’t exactly scintillating stuff.

In the end though, Frickley were able to frustrate Stocksbridge and the Steels were unable to get much going even as they chased an equaliser. They looked more likely to get a goal, with Roxburgh making an impressive save with his legs at one point to keep it at 1-0.

In the end though, the Steels failed to get the equaliser and Ian Richards’ run of his Steels side scoring in every league game since his appointment would end.

MOTM: Michael Roxburgh