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FC United battle back to win 2-1 at Frickley - full report

FC United came back from 1-0 down at half-time to win 2-1 at Frickley Athletic on Tuesday night with a brace from Tom Greaves.

Some of the gloss was taken off the victory when Michael Norton was sent off after the final whistle following a post-match fracas but overall Karl Marginson’s men will be happy to leave West Yorkshire with a welcome win which lifts FC United to fourth place in the league.

The home side started the brightest and could have been a goal up inside the first five minutes when a long ball played in the dangerous Gavin Allott.

He attempted to break away from the FC United defence but was stopped by a great challenge from centre-back Charlie Raglan, who unfortunately picked up an injury in making the challenge and had to be replaced by Tom Davies.

Just after the quarter hour, an Oliver Banks corner was headed towards goal but goalkeeper Tom Woodhead managed to save right on his line. A minute later Frickley took the lead when a ball found Allott in the box. He managed to turn Davies and fire into the far corner.

The rest of the half saw the Reds have the lion’s share of possession but without turning it into any clear cut chances. Although, Greaves did look dangerous twice; once with a header that was glanced just past the post and then later with a snap shot that saw a good save from Woodhead.

With 51 minutes on the clock, Greaves pulled FC United level when he headed home a superb Liam Brownhill cross. As with the first half, the Reds were seeing much of the ball but there were no clear sights on goal. Matthew Wolfenden was the next to go close by trying to place the ball past Woodhead, but he saved easily.

The winning goal came on 69 minutes when a Banks cross was bundled in at the near post by Greaves beating Woodhead to the ball.

With just nine minutes on the clock, the home side thought they had rescued a point when Matty Bloor beat James Spencer with a shot. However, Lee Neville was lurking on the goal-line and headed the ball to safety.

In injury-time, Frickley substitute Phil Oniama was given his marching orders for a poor, crude lunge on Dave Birch. At the final whistle there was a coming together of players which saw Norton pick up a red card for his part in proceedings.

Report by Steven Wood

Man of the Match - Tom Davies. Just pips Tom Greaves to the award with a cool performance in the face of a great striking adversary in Gavin Allott.


First Posted ~ 23:16 Tue 10 Sep 2013
News ID ~ 5075
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021