UniBond League Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 23rd October 2004, 3.00pm
O'Connor on target
Looking at the standing water on the pitch just after the final whistle it was amazing that the game was completed. But, it was only during the last 10 minutes that the water became any sort of problem and it would have been extremely harsh if the weather had denied Gresley Rovers a well-deserved three points against one of the better teams in the UniBond Division One.
Brigg Town came to the Moat Ground boasting an unbeaten away record in the league but found a determined and hard working Gresley side.
Both sides spent the first few minutes sizing each other up but Gresley went close on 10 minutes when Aaron O'Connor received the ball, cut inside before firing a shot that Brigg keeper Damien Steer did well to push away.
The action swung to the other end and on-loan keeper Gavin Saxby was quick to block an attempt from David Betts.
On 14 minutes manager Gary Norton was forced into making a change after Justin Rowe suffered a recurrence of his recent hamstring injury bringing on Andy Marlowe for his debut after his recent move from neighbours Rocester.
By now Gresley were making all the running and on 25 minutes it took a superbly timed last-ditch tackle by Luke Cadman to deny Jamie Barrett who had run on to a fine through ball.
O'Connor was starting to cause the Brigg defence all sorts of problems and on 36 minutes he latched onto a huge kick from Saxby but his shot on the turn missed by a whisker.
Three minutes later the lively Gresley frontrunner was denied yet another chance this time by a great tackle from Danny Hope when O'Connor looked odds on to open the scoring.
On 41 minutes a good cross from Marlowe was spooned up into the air by Liam Hebberd and collected on the line by Steer.
Gresley came out determined to find the net and went close on 52 minutes. A through ball from O'Connor found Karl Brown, his shot was blocked by Steer and Ashley Dodd following up saw his shot blocked by Betts.
A flicked header on 58 minutes found Hebberd who hit a first time shot which was blocked. The ball rebounded to Jamie Hood but his shot on the turn from just outside the box cannoned off the crossbar.
The Gresley pressure surely had to tell and on 70 minutes it did. The constant rain was making it difficult for both sides to keep their footing but O'Connor was not affected when he scored his ninth goal of the season. A clever, quickly taken throw in by Jimmy Turner sent Hebberd on his way down the right while the Brigg defenders were still trying to organise themselves. Hebberd's low cross found O'Connor who skipped past his marker before firing in a low shot, from the edge of the box, past Steer and into the net.
Despite the worsening conditions - torrential rain and a sodden pitch - Gresley looked the likelier of the two sides to score more goals.
On 82 minutes O'Connor once more cut inside his marker before firing off a shot that went just wide of an upright. Two minutes later Brown ran after a ball that the Brigg defence had given up for a goal kick. He turned and looped in a shot that landed on the roof of the net.
Gresley had a good shout for a penalty on 86 minutes when Brown appeared to be hacked down in the area but referee Mr Hutchinson waved play on.
Brigg had hardly created a chance in the second period and if it had been mid-winter Gresley keeper Saxby would have suffered frostbite due to his inactivity for most of the period.
The final say went to the home side as they went close twice in the dying minutes with Hebberd almost getting his header on target from a Barrett cross and Barrett himself putting a shot just a fraction wide of the post from O'Connor's cross.
Manager's View
"I'm very pleased, considering the conditions, with the result - a win at home, keep a clean sheet and also end Brigg's unbeaten away record, it's been a good day all round.
"We sit here now wondering how a game was played on that pitch but I'm glad is was and we've got three points which is the most important thing.
" I watched Brigg the other night and they are a good, solid, hard working outfit and you can see why they are a difficult side to beat. They are very, very good at the back and are very commanding and deal with things without messing about. In the middle of the park I like the way they get the ball down and try to play football.
"We worked hard today in these conditions and I think we earned the result especially in the second half. We had some really good chances and I thought it was going to be just one of those days when up pops Aaron and gets us the goal. That's Gavin Saxby's third clean sheet since he joined us and he didn't have much to do in fairness. But what he did have to do he did well.
"Justin declared himself fit to play on Tuesday night and the fact that the game was postponed gave him a few more games. He said he felt fine before today's game but it was unfortunate when he pulled up with only five minutes game played. It's frustrating for him because Justin's season is stop, start, stop, start at the moment.
"I brought Andy Marlowe on and he used his experience today and he showed why we signed him. He knows where to put the ball, he talks to players and he organises things. When he has the time he puts his foot on the ball and plays it around and when he's under a little bit of pressure he puts the ball in good areas and takes the pressure off us. He's come in today and done a great job for us.
"With Matt Smith out with a virus I played Andy Simpson alongside Jamie Hood and they've been fantastic today. Andy has showed his versatility and followed up a great performance at Ilkeston with another assured performance today."
