By James Briscoe
Nantwich Town battled to a 2-1 win against Frickley despite being reduced to 10 men after only seven minutes.
The Dabbers were rocked when Alex Frost (pictured), judged to be the last man, was sent off for bringing down Luke Hinsley.
But they recovered well at the Weaver Stadium and were grateful when Frickley keeper Ben Simpson’s mistake gave Ben Deegan a gift-wrapped winner 18 minutes from time.
From the word go it looked like Nantwich had a plan to stop tricky Frickley winger James Ghaichem who won two penalties in the reverse fixture.
And when Frost saw red, Danny Johnson was forced into a reshuffle, bringing striker Deegan back in to cover at the heart of the defence.
Large forward Gavin Allott threatened with a powerful shot on 16 minutes but Nantwich’s Steve James showed strong wrists and saved.
Harrop almost got lucky with a low shot that spun in the wind on 39 minutes but Simpson pushed wide.
Ghaichem profited from space created by Allott outside the Nantwich area on 56 minutes to curl in stylishly.
Oliver Devenney then levelled a minute later with a cool outside foot finish after Andy White’s ball cut out Frickley right back Kaspar Amdal.
Frickley were also reduced to 10 men when Allott was sent off on 65 minutes for an apparent arm in the face of the brilliant Deegan.
Deegan was feeling so much better he scored from close on 72 minutes after keeper Simpson fluffed a catch from Devenney’s in-swinging corner.
There were Frickley shouts of handball on 76 minutes when a shot was blocked on the line but the referee was not interested.
Nantwich: Steven James, Andrew Pearson, Andy White, Andy Keogh, Alex Frost (c), Mat Bailey, Nick Haughton, Oliver Devenney, Aaron Burns (Steve Foster 65), Ben Deegan (Sam Wilson 79), Max Harrop (Alex Meaney 83). Subs: Josh Eastwood, Harry Clayton.
Recent Comments