UniBond Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Tuesday, 23rd August 2005, 7.45pm
Stalemate at the Moat Ground
"If we'd have been playing until midnight we still wouldn't have broken the deadlock." This was how the frustrated Gresley manager viewed last night's game after seeing his side held to a draw at the Moat Ground by Kidsgrove Athletic.
With keeper Gavin Saxby having to sit the game out though a mouth injury caused by an assault on him at the weekend Norton was forced to make one change bringing in James Pemberton as a replacement. Otherwise, the same eleven was given the nod that grabbed a point at Fleetwood on their first game of the season.
The first meaningful attempt came on 16 minutes when Aaron O'Connor put through a ball that was a fraction in front of Nathan Tate allowing Kidsgrove keeper Stuart Heeps to grab the ball.
It was O'Connor who opened up the visiting defence again 6 minutes later the ball this time finding David Holmes who could only scuff his shot wide.
On 23 minutes Gresley were awarded a free kick 30 yards out after Tate had been upended. Gary White's kick just skimmed the top of the bar.
A shot from O'Connor went just wide on 36 minutes as the home side continued to apply pressure on Kidsgrove. But, against the run of play Kidsgrove went close seconds later. Andy Simpson and Pemberton seemed undecided on who should deal with the ball and Julian Ward took advantage but Pemberton made a fine block with the rebound finding Ben Matthews but Simpson had recovered enough to block that shot.
Norton made two changes at the break bringing on Paul Edwards for Tate and Tony Hemmings for Gray who had been on the end of some dubious tackles throughout the first half.
Gresley had a decent shout for a penalty within minutes of the restart when O'Connor was hacked down in the area but referee Mr Lindsay saw nothing illegal in the tackle and waved play on.
On 52 minutes Holmes put through a fine ball to O'Connor who expertly controlled the ball before laying the ball back to Edwards but a defender blocked the final shot.
Kidsgrove defender Andy Bostock went close to giving Gresley the lead on 59 minutes when he put a header fractionally wide of his own post. The pressure continued and looked certain to give when Matt Millns put in a goal bound header, from Gary White's free kick, that Heeps did well to push the ball away for a corner.
From the resulting corner Nicky Carter fired his shot over the bar.
On 72 minutes a Gary White corner from the right found the head of Edwards whose looping header landed on the roof of the net.
Three minutes later Matthew Rhead had a chance to grab a goal but he only half hit his shot allowing Pemberton to make a comfortable save down low to his left.
Carl Slater had a golden opportunity to wrap up all three points for Gresley on 78 minutes. Gary White played a glorious ball through to O'Connor who then sent over a pin-point cross to Slater waiting just 8 yards out but somehow the young midfielder managed to fire his shot over the gaping net.
With time running out both sides had a chance to grab the glory. First for the home side Edwards put a shot just wide and Richard Eyre firing over for the visitors.
Manager's View
"This was another frustrating game like Saturday for entirely different reasons. Mick and I are very happy with the performance particularly defensively. It's nice to get a clean sheet. The goal that went in on Saturday was from a penalty so we've not conceded anything yet from open play so from that respect we're quite pleased.
"We're also pleased because we felt the level and tempo of the game was significantly improved on that of Saturday. In the second half we created a lot of chances and I think their goal lead a bit of a charmed life in all honesty. We had a lot of set plays put a lot of balls into the box - we put throw ins into the box and I think we created enough chances to have won two or three games. But it was one of those games that if we'd have been until midnight we wouldn't have managed to have broken the dead lock. So in that respect I was pleased that we managed to keep our concentration at the back - but it wasn't going to be.
"We stuck with the same starting eleven from Saturday except for James in goal. The thinking behind that was that we wanted to give the lads another bite of the cherry because one or two didn't quite get going on Saturday and we were pleased tonight and it's great when you have that quality within the squad to be able to make the changes that we do. There are players who still haven't made the fourteen yet that are very much in our thinking and they are going to be pushing all the way.
"Obviously, we introduced all the subs again tonight but it didn't quite have the impact it did on Saturday in terms of creating a goal so there are one or two tough decisions to make for Nantwich. We have a strength and depth in the squad that perhaps we didn't have last season.
"One or two on our bench felt we should have had a penalty in the second half when Aaron was brought down but my view was obstructed somewhat.
"We did make some chances with the ball coming in from good areas and we made things difficult for them and with a little more luck and composure we could have broke the deadlock. I felt that if we'd have got one it might have opened the game up a bit because they would have had to come out at us.
"I was quite happy with the point on Saturday. I don't think for one minute that we deserved the three but tonight I certainly think we did enough to win the game - but we didn't!
"James came in and did well. There were only one or two little scares but to be fair he wasn't really tested too much. He made a very good save at the end and he's given a good account of himself and has given us some food for thought. It's going to be a big decision for Saturday because he's done nothing wrong at all tonight and he's kept a clean sheet.
"Matt Millns and Andy Simpson won probably ninety five percent of their headers tonight so I was quite pleased and those two are starting to forge a nice little partnership. Allan Davies and Gary White were both efficient without standing out. I was pleased with the midfield and upfront I thought Aaron looked a little better tonight. He'll be a marked man this year because everyone has done their homework on him so the space and time he had last year he's going to work hard for this year to create that."
