Report: Frickley Athletic Vs Kendal Town
Town find themselves just two points above the perils of the relegation zone after an all too familiar away day defeat at Frickley..
Saturday 12th November 2011
Town find themselves just two points above the perils of the relegation zone after an all too familiar away day defeat at Frickley Athletic.
Match Report provided by Scott Kirk - Reporter @ The Westmorland Gazette
KENDAL Town are just two points above the relegation zone after another defeat made it two points from a possible 24.
It was a marked improvement on the 6-0 drubbing by Stourbridge on Tuesday night, but it was not enough to claim any points on a bobbly pitch in West Yorkshire.
The day started fantastically for the Black and Whites though.
Shaun Gray, returning after a six-month travelling trip to America, was unmarked from a Cieran Donnelly corner nine minutes into the game, and his header beat the Frickley man on the post and goalkeeper Stephen Dickinson.
But three minutes later, Jordan Tucker was judged to have fouled Ollie Ryan in the box, although the Frickley forward seemed to make the most of Tucker’s challenge. James Ashmore stepped up for the penalty, and coolly sent Kendal stopper Craig Dootson the wrong way to equalise.
It was a high-octane start to the match, with both sides exploding out of the blocks.
A wonderful Kieran Walmsley free kick could only find the woodwork after Ashley Dunn was fouled on the edge of the box on 18 minutes. Gray was proving a nuisance at corners for Kendal, having a penalty shout rejected on the 29th minute when he went down in the box.
The home side’s Ryan Mallon and Ollie Ryan proved troublesome to the Kendal defence, gaining plenty of joy down Kendal’s right flank all game long.
And it was 10 minutes after half time that Frickley took the lead.
Peter Knox sprang the offside trap from a lovely through-ball from the home side, and he was able to lob Dootson while one-on-one with him to make it 2-1.
With Marc Joseph on international duty and Gordon Swinglehurst and Sean Gregan injured, Gray hobbled off on 55 minutes to add to Kendal’s central defensive woes.
The reshuffle seemed to spark Kendal back into life, with them prodding and probing the home side’s defence.
Ashley Dunn found himself free in the box on 58 minutes, but his tame shot failed to trouble the keeper, while Jackson almost latched onto another centre but it was stabbed away by the Frickley back line. Jackson also forced a good save from Dickinson, who used his legs to save when the Kendal number nine was in on goal.
But Frickley were in turn keeping Kendal on their toes, and they blazed several chances over the bar when they got in behind the Black and Whites back line.
An overhead kick from Knox was well saved by Dootson, while Ryan scuffed his lines on 71 minutes when through on goal. Knox also missed a gilt-edged chance from five yards, when his header on an almost open goal sailed over the bar.
A minute later, Kendal’s Jackson was one-on-one with Dickinson, who hesitated when the Kendal forward was played through, but a tired-looking Jackson seemed to trip over Dickinson as he tried to round him, and Frickley cleared.
Without a win since early September, the match seemed to drift away from the Black and Whites, leaving them 18th in the Evo-Stik Premier.
Attendance: 213
Kendal Town Team: 1) C Dootson, 2) R Winters, 3) D Wisdom, 4) J Tucker, 5) S Gray (N Wainwright 55), 6) C Donnelly, 7) K Walmsley, 8) K Leadbetter (G McEvatt 65), 9) M Jackson, 10) A Dunn, 11) D Williams.
