Albion made the one alteration to the side that lost in the FA Cup at Bamber Bridge as Harry Coates returned to the defence replacing Jason Mycoe.

Taddy started the contest on a positive note pressing with intent from the front as an early effort by Lamin Colley on his home debut swirling straight into the arms of goalkeeper Hugo Warhurst.

Given how the game ended up for the visitors, they should have in fact opened the scoring after six minutes as Daniel Rowe found himself completely unmarked on a corner but the defender powered a header wide of the mark.

The Brewers did not look back from this point on as the deadlock was broken in the 12th minute. Full-back Ellis Barkworth cheekily flicked over the Athletic defence and Casey Stewart kept his cool at the by-line to pull-back to top scorer Joe Lumsden for a simple tap in.

Tadcaster were purring and showing no signs of letting up as Billy Whitehouse cut inside and stung the hands of Warhurst just seconds after the opening goal. Their lead was doubled from the resulting corner though as Whitehouse’s original delivery came back to the winger before curling onto the head of Casey Stewart who expertly guided in off the far post.

Frickley couldn’t live with the Brewers and were struggling to contain the dynamic nature of Stewart, Lumsden, Colley and the like. They were caught out again moments later as Casey Stewart was allowed to carry the ball 50+ yards in dangerous territory before feeding Billy Whitehouse down the right-hand channel but Daniel Rowe recovered just in time to dispossess on this occasion.

Taddy were playing with an extremely impressive intensity and it only seemed a matter of time before they would be out of sight. A poor kick from Warhurst conceded another opportunity however Joe Lumsden, who was left with far too much room, could curl past the keeper who gleefully caught the shot.

Corey Roper and Pete Davidson were setting the tempo in midfield being first to every ball and the latter set up the next good chance. The man they call ‘The Yorkshire Pirlo’ intercepted Connor Smith’s pass before shifting to Lumsden who slid Lamin Colley in down the left-hand side who’s fierce strike across the face flashed agonisingly wide of the far post.

A deserved third goal did arrive on the stroke of half-time when Joe Lumsden pinched off Rowe after a mix-up with Ben Algar before driving into the penalty area and smashing low into the back of the net leaving Hugo Warhurst with no chance.

Lamin Colley was another man catching the eye in a Tad shirt as his blistering pace and power was causing Connor Smith all kinds of problems. The former Boston forward came close to adding a fourth goal in the 31st minute after flicking narrowly over on a corner kick.
Casey Stewart was revelling in the high-tempo contest looking menacing on every venture forward and he was asking for a penalty on 36 minutes. A gorgeous drop of the shoulder saw him escape Rowe and burst in beyond before going to ground under the challenge of the onrushing Warhurst but nothing doing for referee Lewis Sandoe.

The Brewers’ only gripe at the break would have been that they weren’t further ahead as a glorious chance was squandered seconds later. Albion’s clever interplay bamboozled the visitors once again allowing for Pete Davidson to glide clean through on goal only to drag his effort wide of the mark with his weaker left-foot.

Unfortunately for the travelling blues fans, little changed in the second 45 as Simon Collins’ men continued where they left off. In Joe Lumsden, Tadcaster have got a striker who simply lives and breathes goals, hunting the ball down for 90 minutes looking a constant threat and he came close to sealing his hat-trick on the hour mark. Daniel Rowe could only head a Billy Whitehouse corner back into the danger area allowing Joe Lumsden to bring a ball down on the spin with immense control before firing inches wide of the far corner.

After a somewhat rocky start to the 2018/19 season for the Brewers, this was a complete performance from 1-11, the back four of Hardy, Barkworth, Barrett and Coates gave absolutely nothing away to their opponents getting nice and tight at every opportunity. This then allowed the forward players to go and do the business, and boy did they do it in style.

Pete Davidson blasted across the face of goal before Casey Stewart danced through once again but Warhurst anticipated the low shot.
Lumsden was desperate to seal his first treble in a Taddy shirt and he came close with 20 minutes to go when cutting inside substitute Phillip Watt and seeing his ferocious strike well stopped by Warhurst. Nevertheless he did indeed complete his hat-trick on 72 minutes and it was similar to his second goal. Stalking the in-possession defender again, Lumsden intercepted Jameel Ible’s pass, raced in on goal, poked through the legs of Watt before doing the same to goalkeeper Hugo Warhurst. A fine individual goal and nothing less than his efforts deserved.

Albion skipper Michael Ingham was merely an onlooker for the vast majority of the contest but he did do well to push a Jacob Hazel cross away to safety looking to end Frickley’s run of scoring 54 games on the bounce.

Taking into consideration that Frickley had lost just one game up to this point, they were being well and truly outclassed as Taddy should have had seven or eight goals comfortably. Warhurst was called into action again to deny substitute Adam Baker before the winger clipped agonisingly wide after a slick one-two with Lumsden.

Full-Time: Tadcaster Albion 4-0 Frickley Athletic

Tadcaster: Ingham©, Barkworth, Hardy, Roper, Coates, Barrett, Whitehouse, Davidson (Langton 81), Lumsden, Stewart, Colley (Baker 71)
Unused: Mycoe, Howarth, Walters

Frickley: Warhurst, Smith, Algar, McGuire©, Ible, Rowe (Watt 68), Walton, Burton (Palmer 58), Morris, Patterson (McSheffrey HT), Hazel
Unused: Liversidge, Stancliffe

Attendance: 231
Referee: Lewis Sandoe