Blues bag first pre-season win against a youthful Huddersfield Town side
Frickley Athletic 1 Huddersfield Town XI 0 SUPER-sub Mike Whitwell gave the Blues their first win of the pre-season against a Huddersfield Town XI.
The Terriers brought a youthful-looking team to the Tech5 Stadium, while Blues boss Billy Heath also made a number of changes to the side that fell to a 3-0 loss against Grimsby Town on Tuesday night.
The Terriers set off like a house on fire, but the Blues matched them for pace as the ball switched rapidly from end-to-end.
John Rooney shaved the bar with a 20-yard effort in the 15th minute and Ben Simpson got down to smother a low shot from Callum Hare a minute later.
Simpson grasped a point-blank effort from Lionel Ainsworth after 20 minutes while, at the other end, Dan Broadbent beat the off-side trap only to see his shot blocked by a diving Nathan Dean.
Huddersfield should have gone ahead in the 29th minute when Michael McCafferty got clear, only for Simpson to block his shot and the visiting forward lifted the rebound wide of the target.
Broadbent made a good run down the right on the stroke of half-time, cutting inside before striking an angled drive which Dean just managed to grasp.
A minute after the resumption, Dean denied Broadbent with another good save, and Simpson excelled in clutching a effort from Rooney in the 49th minute.
Danny Walsh went close with a 20 yard effort before Whitwell broke the deadlock for the Blues, who continued to string together some penetrating attacks, despite ringing the changes with substitutes.
A penetrating run by Danny Clarke down the left in the 69th minute saw him knock the ball inside to Broadbent but he mishit his shot and it went wide.
The home defence never relaxed their grip on the Terriers attack, while the Blues threatened on the counter, Charles Fisher having a shot only half cleared in the 84th minute, and Clarke testing Dean from the rebound.
Huddersfield's goal bore a charmed life a minute later, Aaron Moxham and Whitwell having shots blocked on the line in quick succession as Frickley searched for a second strike.
Frickley: Ben Simpson, Charles Fisher, Ben Chapman (Jack Nodder 74min), Danny Walsh (Pat McGuire 59min), Simon Sturdy, Matt Bird, Grant Normington (Mike Whitwell 46min), Richard Dunning (Danny Clarke 67min), Dan Broadbent (Aaron Moxham 77min), Luke Malcher (Andy Lee 63min), Leon Henry (Nathan Perks 74min).
Huddersfield: Nathan Dean, Jack Hunt, Aiden Chippendale, Jim Goodwin, Gregg Pearson (Max Leonard 55min), Liam Ridehalgh (Dominic Dickinson 55min), Calum Hare, Chris Atkinson (Aiden D'Arcy 72min), Michael McCafferty (Adam Colton 55min), John Rooney, Lionel Ainsworth.
See this week's Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express for all the latest sports news from around the area.
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Weather for Wakefield
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
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