Halesowen Town vs Gresley Rovers
Gresley appeared off-colour for this tough away fixture, which unfortunately saw an end to a splendid seven league games unbeaten, which had seen them rise from 21st in the league to 7th.
It was the home side that created the early chances.
On 6 minutes Gresley goalkeeper Dale Belford was called on to make a blocking save after Jason Ashby had broken clear after the Gresley defence had allowed a David Holmes through ball to run into the danger zone.
A minute or so later Halesowen went close again when Darren Grocutt's header from Richard Kavanagh's corner was cleared off the line.
Gresley had a half chance on 10 minutes when Steve Lenagh capitalised on a mistake by home goalkeeper Matt Lowe but Grocutt was on hand to save his colleagues blushes.
On 13 minutes Ashby found himself free in the box but hesitated far too long allowing a Gresley defender to block the shot, which then returned to him. He played the ball to Simon Hollis who could only put his shot over the bar.
A back-header on 22 minutes from Andy Spencer went just over the bar from a cross laid on by former Moat Man Holmes.
On 33 minutes Halesowen took the lead in a somewhat fortunate way. A corner from Kavanagh looked to be covered but some how found itself in the Gresley net at the near post.
The second half begun in a similar way to the first with Gresley failing to get out of first gear.
In the 56th minute a volley from Hollis was deflected on towards the Gresley goal by Lewis Baker but Belford easily dealt with it.
On 62 minutes Halesowen doubled their lead. Ashby collected a flick on superbly turned the defender before curling his shot into the top corner from six yards.
Two minutes later it could have been worse for the visitors when Belford was caught off his line but thankfully the speculative long-range shot-cum-lob from Hollis went wide.
Gresley had a chance on 68 minutes with Shaun Harrad making home keeper Matt Lowe save his low shot after collecting a through ball from Richard Wardle.
The visitors seemed to be springing in to life, unfortunately too late in the game, with Leon Doughty going close on 75 minutes putting his shot fractionally wide of the upright.
With only 8 minutes left on the clock Gresley went close again and Lowe was called on to make a reflex save from Harrad and again to save a shot from substitute Liam Hebberd minutes later.
Gary's views on the game
"We are obviously disappointed to lose the game. Having said that, the better side won on the night.
They were better than us in all departments tonight and we never really got going. We were a yard off it, our passing was sloppy and we didn't play the way that I know we can. We conceded a sloppy goal and at half time we were lucky
just to be the one goal down.
Second half was a little better but when we conceded the second it took the stuffing out of a few.
Its the 1st time we've been behind in a game since Buxton and it was interesting to see how we reacted.
The game was a good yardstick for us to realise that there is still a little bit to do if we are going to compete with the top sides in this league.
If you compare Halesowen to us, anyone can see the quality, experience and depth throughout their squad. They, like so many of the other clubs have the resources to bring top players in for good wages and in some cases pay transfer and even signing on fees.
Even teams like Yate (no disrespect) have recently paid £2000 in a transfer fees for a player.
Financially, we are not in that league but in comparison, we have at Gresley a good young squad, with experience in key areas put together on a tight budget and Im very proud to manage every single one of them.
I really believe that with the nucleus of this squad we can compete with the top sides but we have a little work to do in the meantime.
We've had words in the dressing room about our performance tonight but I wont be too hard on my players because its been a superb run we've been on and these players have taken us from 21st in the league to 6th (after Saturdays results).
The lads know we haven't performed well and they recognise that we can do better but they have worked really hard over the last 6 weeks to turn things around and now we've been beaten, they are keen to get another run going again. Its the job of Alan, Steve and myself to pick the lads up a get them going again.
We've got a break on Saturday and im hoping that will be enough for one or two to recover from a few knocks they have been carrying.
Maybe a result like tonight is what we needed to bring us and a few others back down to earth a little ??"
Halesowen Town (1) 2
Gresley Rovers (0) 0
Scorers: Kavanagh 33, Ashby 62.
Halesowen Town: Lowe, Colwell, Charlton, Grocutt, Jones, Baker, Hollis, Ashby, Holmes (Hallam 76), Spencer (Steane 67), Kavanagh. Subs not used: Mitchell, N Smith, Small.
Gresley Rovers: Belford, Everitt, Cheetham, M Smith, Haynes (Hebberd 70) Slater (Wardle 61), Doughty
, Barrett, Harrad, Lenagh, Tate. Subs not used: Alexander, Clarke (gk).
Rovers Star Man: Andy Cheetham – worked hard.
Referee: R Vaughan (Rugeley).
Attendance: 334
