UniBond League Division One
Queens Terrace, Dimple Wells, Ossett
Saturday, 30th October 2004, 3.00pm
Albion halt Rovers' away run
Gresley Rovers lost their unbeaten away record in somewhat controversial circumstances at Ossett Albion on Saturday. Defender Gary White was harshly sent off for apparently handling the ball when most of his team mates and some of the opposition players said he didn't.
The decision spoilt what was always going to be a tough assignment but a gutsy and determined second half performance almost grabbed what would have been a deserved share of the points.
The first quarter of the game was a fairly even contest with neither keeper being tested but on 29 minutes Albion opened the scoring. A free kick taken by Adam Fretwell was flicked on by Dave Dickinson to Asa Ingall who nodded the ball past Gavin Saxby and into the net.
On 37 minutes came the turning point in the game when White was adjudged to have handled the ball on the line. After consulting his assistant who was 45 yards away from the incident showed the unfortunate defender a red card and pointed to the spot. Danny Toronczak made no mistake sending Saxby the wrong way.
Just before the half time break Albion almost made it three but a superb save from Saxby denied Steve Downes his moment of glory.
Gresley manager Gary Norton was forced into making a change at the break replacing the injured Jimmy Turner with Liam Hebberd.
The visitors came out looking to get back in the game and went close when Ashley Dodd unfortunately put a header straight into the arms of Albion keeper Andy Carney.
However, Gresley did not have to wait long because Hebberd made an immediate impact with a fine goal after being on the pitch for just over a minute.
Emeka Ejiofor almost grabbed himself a goal after receiving Karl Brown's throw in he turned and fired in a shot that just cleared the bar.
On 57 minutes Jamie Hood also went close but his diving header from Brown's free kick somehow looped over the bar.
It was now Ossett's turn to apply pressure and it took another superb save from Saxby to keep his side in the game. A close range header looked goal bound until Saxby spectacularly tipped the ball over.
The woodwork saved Gresley on 67 minutes when a shot from Ingall cannoned off an upright and away to safety.
Gresley had two more half chances towards the end of the game to grab a share of the points but both Matt Smith and Andy Simpson put their headers over.
Manager's View
"That was no penalty or sending off! All the players are saying that it was a fantastic save by Saxby. But, to be fair to the referee he went over to the linesman who was 45 yards away and the linesman said he saw Gary White handle the ball. Ossett's manager said that their number 10 said it was a great save and White did not handle it.
"We started the second half flying. Jimmy Turner had picked a bit of a knock up and even though he was fit to play on I needed to do something offensive so I put Liam Hebberd on at half time and within a couple of minutes he got himself a great goal and he gave us the platform to really go for it.
"It was vital that we got the early goal because the longer the second half went on it was going to be in their favour and they were really nervous after that and we had one or two opportunities notably Jamie Hood's header. I thought it was a certain goal but he managed to lift it over the bar. We had one or two other good efforts as well and I can't fault the lads for their effort and application in the second half.
"Gavin has done well. Just after the penalty we were a little at sixes and sevens and made another top drawer save that could have made it three nil and put us out of the game. He made a particularly good save in the second half so he's coming into his own and I'm delighted with his performance.
"We were sloppy for the first goal when we gave away a cheap free kick and caught standing for the header. Before we could get back into the game the talking point happened and we had to come back and it's a big ask and the players responded and we almost did it."
