A very youthful Reds XI enjoyed a good test against a well organised Frickley side at Westfield Lane on Tuesday night, with the home side running out 1-0 winners thanks to a long range lob by Luke Hinsley just before half-time. Head of Academy Coaching Mark Burton took charge of a Barnsley XI which included new recruits Elliot Kebbie and Dylan Mottley-Henry who signed for the Reds development squad earlier this week.
Burton’s side started the game brightly with good build up play which saw the midfield linking up well with the front two pairing of Bradley Ash and Jacob Brown, thus posing consistent problems with a number of through balls in behind the back four. Jared Bird played Kebbie through on goal early on in the first half and the new addition showed real pace and power to get beyond the left back, however his shot went straight at the keeper.
Matty Templeton almost opened the scoring for the Reds on 17 minutes after Ash found him with a well times cross. Templeton, who was playing out on the left hand side, made a surge into the box and met the cross well on the half volley, but his shot flew just over the bar. This was followed up with another mazy run by Templeton - this time on the right side of the field - turning his defender well and cutting inside to create shooting space, but he couldn’t quite find the top corner.
Mottley-Henry enjoyed a solid first half performance operating at right back, linking up well with Elliot Kebbie and using good initiative to get forward and put the Frickley defence under pressure.
The decisive goal came just before half time for the hosts with Luke Hinsley capitalising on a poor defensive clearance and the midfielder coolly lobbed Murphy in the Reds goal from 30 yards out.
The team was overhauled for the second half with a number of trialists taking to the field for Barnsley. The Reds continued to press in search of an eqauliser, with Sham Bertie on the left wing powering past his marker on several occasions and getting good balls into the box, but unfortunately an equaliser could not be found.
Frickley worked hard and battled well with some good play throughout the game and created a number of chances with balls over the top which posed the Reds defence problems. However, the Reds centre back pairing of Kesi Omolokun and Will Smith managed withstand the Frickley threat as the game ended 1-0 to the hosts.
The Barnsley XI friendly schedule now continues with a game against Athersley Recreation on Wednesday 20th July and Penistone Church on Wednesday 27th July.
After overseeing the Reds XI friendly against Frickley, Head of Academy Coaching Mark Burton commented, “For the first game we knew it would be a little bit disjointed to be fair, we’ve got a lot of trialists in and this is the time of season where it’s all about getting minutes in the bank. The game ebbed and flowed but it’s all about understanding patterns of play, understanding each other and relationships with players, playing in a 442, etc. We don’t get carried away result wise, we just have to compete no matter who we’re playing against and the friendlies that we’ve set up they have to compete with these teams because teams like Frickley will have a go at you. Things will get better as we continue with pre-season and we’re really looking forward to two more challenges in Athersley and Penistone Church in the coming weeks.”
Watch an extended interview with Mark Burton soon on Barnsley Player HD.
Full Reds XI squad vs Frickley Athletic: Murphy (GK), Kebbie, Lang, Lovelle, Dolan, Mottley-Henry, Bird, Harris, Templeton, Ash, Brown, Lund, Omolokun, Smith, Simpson, Palmer, McBurnie, Ramsey, Bertie, Braithwaite, McGowan, Clare
