By James Bushnell
The weather was overcast and mild perfect playing conditions for the game at hand, Brighouse came out swinging in the first 15-20 mins of the game with the high press and they were looking for the first goal to break the deadlock early on in the game. Brighouse had a chance early on with a free kick in a dangerous area where a ball could be whipped into the box, the ball came in but it was well defended by the Frickley defence and they were quickly on the counter attack but the shot went wide this was a huge let off for the Brighouse defence as they left themselves to wide open at the back and not compact enough to stop the run from Frickleyʼs number 10 Kieran Wells. What came to follow after the counter attacks by Frickley were a flurry of free kicks for Brighouse town but sadly with all the opportunities they had with these free kicks they didn’t seem to find the end product. Then the inevitable happened and Brighouse were 1-0 down, this was a goal scored by Kieran Wells this was all down to the Brighouse defence not being compact enough to stop the runs down the middle of the pitch, but this did not stop Brighouse from playing their game and playing high intensity and attacking football and this rewarded them with a goal not long after Frickley scored. It came from an in swinging corner and to head it home was the Brighouse number 9 Sorhaindo this is what he needed to bring his confidence levels up.
As the saying goes ‘once your opponent scores that’s when their defence is the most vulnerable and this was the case from the header by the number 9. In the last 5-10 mins of the first half Frickley were slowly getting
into the game with one chance what saw Wells try chip it over the keeper but the keeper did enough to put him off and it went over the bar. And to bring some momentum into half time Starkey had a shot but it was over the cross bar, with being this attacking minded I wasn’t sure if Brighouse would be the same in the second half. But before the whistle was blown for half time Frickley had a corner straight from the training ground what makes the hosts go 2-1 in front but still Brighouse weren’t backing down from the challenge what was in front of them. The half time whistle blew this was the best time for Brighouse to regroup and pick themselves up and keep playing their game.
SECOND HALF
In the second half Brighouse dominated the game with how they were playing and they kept up with the high intensity this show how the manager has improved their fitness so they can play like this, the ball was still in the Frickley half 10 mins into the second it shows how Frickley were playing Brighouse’s game, in the 51st minute Clarke for Brighouse cut inside onto his right foot and just put the ball inches wide of the bar and post, also how Brighouse were switching the play was great this gave Brighouse another dimension with how they were attacking and how they were in control of the midfield. There were numerous attacks by Brighouse but nobody could covert it into a goal and make it 2-2 for the visitors, but with this game and playing this high intensity attacking football its going to be a learning curve for the players with how they defend and attack. In the latter stages of the match Brighouse and Frickley made some subs Ciccarelli came on and Clarke came off this was a straight swap winger off winger on this helped Brighouse with having that extra energy in attack, Haigh had another chance but couldn’t put his foot through the ball to get it past the keeper but through out the second half Brighouse were the dominant side and were always finding ways to get that goal what they really deserved to get. In the 67th minute another change for Brighouse number 14 Tinker on and the number 4 Smith goes off smith was a stand put player as he coped with the attacks Frickley were trying to create on the wing and Smith was always there to make sure they couldnʼt capitalise on anything.
At the same time Frickley made a sub Harrison on and the goal scorer Kieran Wells off. More waves of Brighouse attacks followed as Thomas Haigh went down in some discomfort in the 79th minute the physio came on and took him off the field then he jogged back on but 30 seconds later he went down and was helped off the pitch with a limp this could but the knock he got in pre season resurfacing with Haigh going off number 15 Reed comes on for Brighouse and makes an immediate impact with helping Brighouse get a corner and another attacking opportunity but it sadly came to nothing as the Frickley keeper collected
the ball comfortably. With a break in the play Frickley decide to do another sub and bring on barks and the number 6
Everington goes off. And coming to the 90th minute Brighouse were still trying to find that illusive goal that they 100% deserved, a header by Boyle goes over the bar. And another Frickley sub josh burns on and Woolford goes off, but with these subs Frickley were making it didnʼt stop the orange army to attack and keep that high intensity through out Reed a sub what came on earlier for the orange army does a drilled shot along the floor what bobbles in front of the goalkeeper but the keeper reacted well to save the shot. The full time score was Frickley AFC 2-1 Brighouse Town this score line doesnʼt reflect on how well the Brighouse players played and they deserved to get a point out of that game hopefully the next game can be a win for the Orange army.
