Match Photos
Gresley Rovers vs Rugby United
Gresley Rovers have still to get off the mark in this new season.
Their opponents for this game, Rugby United, are a strong side with some good, fast, and hardworking front-runners. On so it proved in this 2nd match of the new campaign.
The whistle to start the game was still echoing around the Moat Ground when Rugby got their first chance of many on goal in the first half. A swift attacking move cut the home defence to ribbons and a pacy cross into the Gresley box resulted in a sliced clearance by a defender somehow flew across the face of goal and out for a corner.
On 8 minutes a short corner from Gary White enabled Chris Gray to whip in a cross that Andy Cheetham headed wide.
The Rugby forwards were giving Gresley defenders a torrid time and the goal that looked inevitable duly arrived on 10 minutes. Robbie Beard ran into the penalty area after being put through by Nathan Thompson. Matt Smith’s late tackle scythed down Beard and the referee had no option but to point to the spot. Danny Hall sent Gresley keeper Mark Sheils the wrong way.
Things could have got even worse just two minutes later when a good shout for a second spot kick for the visitors was, this time, waved away by the ref.
The visitors still pushed forward looking dangerous with every attack and an almost identical sliced clearance to the one at the start of the game almost gifted them another goal on 15 minutes.
On 22 minutes Gresley put together some good football and Earl Alexander and White combined well to set up Andy Bourne whose shot beat the Rugby keeper Jason Pearcey with the help of a slight deflection.
Two minutes later some further good football with the ball being passed across the whole width of the pitch resulted in Craig Hopkins blazing his shot over the bar.
Gresley were having a good spell putting Rugby under some pressure and again Hopkins had a chance, which he put wide of the post.
Rugby re-took the lead on 37 minutes when Beard’s goal bound shot was finger tipped onto the post by Sheils but Neil Melvin easily tapped the rebound in with Gresley defenders slow to react.
Gresley had a couple more chances before the break with a Hopkins shot saved and a Bourne shot from the right just over the bar.
The opening 15 minutes of the re-start provide no chances for either side. On 60 minutes, however, Gresley got half a chance. A superb free kick by White was met by Bourne but the midfielder could only put his shot wide.
Another White free kick five minutes later was even better and produced the goal of the game.
Gresley were awarded a free kick 30 yards out and White hit an unstoppable shot into the top of the Rugby net giving Pearcey no chance at all.
On 70 minutes a free kick from Gray was cleared for a corner and from the resultant flag kick Hopkins put a shot well over the bar.
The former Burton Albion defender Gary Redgate was allowed to run straight through the Gresley defence on 76 minutes but Sheils did well to save his shot low down to his left.
Two minutes later another free kick was awarded to Gresley in the exact spot that produced the earlier goal. White stepped up to take the shot but this time it went well over the bar.
Rigby got the winner on 79 minutes as a result of some very sloppy defending. Marsden made a fine run down the left side and put a pass through to Jamie Williams. The Gresley defence backed off him and made no effort to make a tackle which allowed him the easy task of slotting the ball past Sheils.
Two minutes later Rugby could have added to Gresley’s misery when Williams made another unchallenged run at the home defence but this time he flashed his shot wide of the upright.
Gresley should have grabbed a point late on but a superb reflex save from a vicious drive by Peacey denied Gray a goal.
Gary's views on the game
"I'm a bit despondent really. It's still early in the season and there are a few positives to take from the game.
"Defensively we can't give goals like that away at home. Looking at the back four before the start of the season Alan and I were really pleased with the defensive side of things. We did score two goals at home and let three in and Rugby really didn't have to work hard to get them.
"The first goal, I thought, was due to some naive defending. We were throwing ourselves into tackles and obviously we threw ourselves in to one too many and it resulted in a penalty. The second goal I thought Sheils did well and pushed it onto the post but we were too slow in reacting and they had two or three players waiting to tap the ball into an empty net.
"In defence we were making basic mistakes and they were from players who should know better.
"The third goal capped it for me. We've got ourselves a massive foothold on the game through a great free kick from Gary White who is capable of that every time we get a free kick. It was a fantastic strike that lifted the crowd and the players and I really thought we were going to go on and get something from the game. We were on the up we were putting the pressure on them. And then, out of nothing, we gifted them another goal. We'd not dealt with their direct running all night and they have some skilful players up front. They are not the biggest of players but they are hard working, honest players who get the ball at their feet and are willing to run at the defenders. At times they were going past us easily and that's something we're going to have to work on.
"I've asked the players to take responsibility. The pressure is mounting and it's not getting any easier with teams like Bromsgrove coming down on Saturday. Out of our three opening games of the season I had Bromsgrove as the hardest game on paper and I go into that game without any points. So obviously the supporters are going to be looking and thinking this is not the best of starts.
"I know the start is not good enough for the supporters of Gresley Rovers. They expect more than that and they deserve more than that. We the squad we've assembled I think we've let ourselves down in both the first two games. I think we should have taken a point out of them at least. I felt at key stages of the match that if we'd have pushed on we could have got ourselves in front. That's not to say we would have gone on and won the game but we failed to do that.
"Obviously that's in the past now and our thoughts turn to the Bromsgrove game and preparing for that and trying to get the lads in the right frame of mind.
"Yes I'm disappointed and disheartened but I'm still full of energy and enthusiasm and I know I can turn things around and do the right things. I've still got the confidence of the players and they are 100 percent behind us. They are gutted. They've let themselves down but we are a team and are in this together. We should have taken something out of the game tonight.
"We had a crowd of over 400 and I'm disappointed that from our first league match at home we've not taken anything from the game.
"Richard Wardle took a knock to his back and it stiffened up and he will need to be looked at before Saturday. Ian Bluck came on in his place and I thought he did well. I had a phone call from Liam Hebberd who was to be a big part in the plans as he is a great option to have on the bench as we saw against Hendon in the friendly and on Saturday at Swindon when he nearly scored, to say he'd had his hand put in plaster and the doctors have advised him not to play for a couple of weeks. So that's disappointing because we are already limited to options up front and his performance at Swindon was one of the positives that cane out of that match.
"Some of the football we played tonight was a lot better than on Saturday and I'm pleased with the performance. I was pleased with how Gary White and Earl Alexander linked down the left but we are short of that little bit of quality. We gave the ball away too many times and that's something we are going to have to address. I was pleased with how our central midfielders played but it was in patches. You can't get two more honest players than that but at times we needed someone with a bit more guile in terms of going in and sticking a foot in. Rugby were good at that and it's something we need to sharpen up on.
"It's not quite working up front yet. The movement they had in the Derby County and West Brom games was good but our service has not been good enough. I think we only had one good ball fed through to them in the second half tonight that Pitty tried to turn inside. Otherwise it was balls that were reaching them at head or waist height and that's not the sort of football I want us to play. In pre-season we kept the ball on the deck and knocked it about. I'm looking for players to take a bit more responsibility especially the senior players."
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Rugby United (2) 3
Scorers: Bourne 22, G White 65 (Gresley Rovers); Hall 10 (pen), Melvin 37, Williams 79 (Rugby United).
Gresley Rovers: Sheils, Wardle (Bluck 45), G White, Smith, Cheetham
, Hopkins, Bourne, Slater, Gray, Pitt (Kitching 57), Alexander (M Moran 82). Subs not used: Timms, Barrett.
Rugby United: Pearcey, G Moran, Thompson (Williams 73), Hart, Herbert, Redgate, Hall (Squire 69), Dutton, Beard, Marsden, Melvin (Shanahan 83). Subs not used: Pearson, Thomas (gk).
Rovers Star Man: Carl Slater – worked hard in midfield.
Referee: D Adcock (Long Eaton).
Attendance: 416
