Gresley Rovers vs Shepshed Dynamo
The scoreline would give the impression that this was a fairly comfortable victory over the side that is at present bottom of the Dr Martens Western Division but nothing could be further from the truth especially in the first half.
Shepshed Dynamo are having a run of luck that Gresley seemed to suffer earlier in the season and as they say there is no luck when you are bottom of the league.
Gresley manager Gary Norton was expecting a tough and battling game and he got what he predicted.
Dynamo, despite their lowly league position were arguably the better of the two sides in the first half and could easily have gone in at the break one or two goals up if their finishing had been more clinical. But as happens when you are in that position they found themselves one down instead.
The first chance for the visitors came as early as the 3rd minute when Gresley keeper Dale Belford could only get a hand to a Carl Lawrence cross and it needed some defending by Carl Slater as Adam Wash rapidly bared down on him to get the ball clear of danger.
On 15 minutes Gresley were trying to put together some moves but the final ball was too long and the Dynamo keeper Richard Keeling collected easily.
The visitors were still trying to push forward and on 24 minutes Robert Johnson raced towards the penalty area before hitting a scuffed shot from long range that barely tested Belford. However, the same player made a much better effort two minutes later but saw his vicious free kick flash just past an upright.
Dynamo new signing Wash then went close on 28 minutes but his shot from 25 yards also went the wrong side of the post.
On 38 minutes Gresley scored, to be honest, against the run of play. Liam Hebberd flew down the right flank before crossing to the waiting Steve Lenagh who smashed in an absolutely cracking shot that the keeper could have hardly seen, but the ball cannoned into the underside of the bar and bounced out. Earl Alexander was the quickest to react and coolly headed the ball back into the net.
Gresley came out for the second period looking more the part and it was the Moat Men's turn to dominate a half.
The referee's whistle had barely gone when Lenagh almost doubled the home side's lead. He ran onto a very poor headed back pass by Duncan O'Brien but just could not lift his attempted lob high enough over Keeling who managed to grab the ball.
It did not take Gresley much longer before they got their second goal. Again it was the big frontrunner who was involved.
On 53 minutes Andy Cheetham made a dashing run down the left and crossed to Leon Doughty at the far post. Doughty mis-hit his shot and the ball landed to Lenagh who put the ball past Keeling.
Things got worse for the visitors 10 minutes later. Doughty fired in a firmly hit free kick from 25 yards that Keeling failed to hold on to and as he went down to grab the ball at the second attempt he upended Hebberd and the referee pointed to the spot.
Lenagh took the kick and sent Keeling the wrong way for Gresley's third and his second goal of the game.
On 68 minutes after some hard work Hebberd did very well to get a shot off when being harried by a defender but the keeper did well to hold on to the shot.
Substitute Nathan Tate then got into the action on 78 minutes. After making a superb tackle to win the ball the young defender flew down the wing before crossing to Richard Wardle who just could not get enough power on his header to test the keeper.
A minute later Gresley had a good penalty shout turned down when Tate appeared to be pulled back by a defender in the Dynamo area.
Shepshed had two more chances to get on the score sheet before the end of the game when they fired in a cracking shot that Belford did extremely well to block and then firing wide when very well placed.
Gary's views on the game
"Obviously pleased with a win, three points and a clean sheet but not so pleased with the overall performance. How we found ourselves one-nil up at half time I'm not sure!
"The lads have set their own standard in the last month but there were signs on Saturday that we weren’t happy with. We didn't press the ball hard enough and we've put a lot of hard work in training on that but we seemed to switch off on Saturday and we started the same way tonight.
"We knew they would be 110 mph and to be fair to Shepshed they worked very, very hard and out-worked us in the first half and their midfield bossed it.
"We had a bit of a dig at half time and we were lucky to be one nil up but we're having that bit of luck at the moment.
"Second half I felt we improved slightly but Shepshed kept going to the end and that's what we need to do.
"We need to batter sides like that and to be honest they did not have enough quality to punish us but it will be a whole different ball game on Saturday.
"We are not happy with the performance because of the standards they've set. It seems harsh when you've just won three nil against a tricky side like Shepshed but we still have some work to do.
"I feel there are a few signs of complacency and indiscipline creeping in. We saw it on Saturday and again tonight and we've got to get on the top of that quickly.
"I said to the lads at the start of the game that when you are on a run the hardest thing is to have the passion and desire to keep that run going and I saw a few bits and bobs I was not happy with tonight.
"We have a few lads who have been patient and some returning from injury in the next week or so and there is going to be some good competition for places that will keep everyone on their toes. And, we are still talking to one or two players as well that we are hoping to bring in.
"We need to keep everyone's feet on the ground and the positives we can take from tonight is a clean sheet and a decent crowd. It's very pleasing for a midweek game to go over 400.
"There are a few finishing touches left to enable us to finish in that top six. It's within our sights now and that's after the poor start to the season we had.
"I said to the lads that four weeks ago we were playing games were if we lost we went bottom of the league but tonight we were playing in a game were if we win we go sixth or seventh if the other results go our way.
"That's why we are disappointed with the performance overall.
"It was always going to be a scrap against Shepshed and I felt we should have dealt with it better. They worked hard and we didn't work hard enough. I'd watched Shepshed three times and had an idea what they were about but Saturday's opponents Mangotsfield I know very little about but I do know that if we play like we did tonight against them we'll get turned over.
"We've got two very tough games coming up. Saturday's and then at Halesowen on the following Tuesday. They are the games that I'm looking to pitch ourselves against to see just how far we have come.
"If we can come out of this month with a decent run of games and a good points total then I'll be far happier knowing that we'll be challenging for that top six place."
Gresley Rovers (1) 3
Shepshed Dynamo (0) 0
Scorers: Alexander 38, Lenagh 54, 65 (pen).
Gresley Rovers: Belford, Everitt, Cheetham, Smith, Haynes
, Barrett, Doughty, Slater (Tate 70), Hebberd (Walshe 70), Lenagh, Alexander (Wardle 66). Sub not used: W White (gk).
Shepshed Dynamo: Keeling, Stevens, Greatorex, O'Brien, Savage, Weafer, Johnson, Quincey, Wash (Heskey 70), Lawrence (Lambert 77), Fosdick. Subs not used: Dorrian, Blockley, Harland.
Rovers Star Man: Steve Lenagh – scored two and set one up.
Referee: R Fletcher (Belper).
Attendance: 410
