UniBond League Division One
Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field, Spalding
Saturday, 8th October 2005, 1.00pm
Gresley slip among the Tulips
How come one of your strikers can score his second hat trick on consecutive Saturdays and still be on the losing side?
That's one of the questions many Gresley supporters are asking themselves after witnessing the shock result of the day when Gresley's unbeaten run came to an end at Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
Well the answer was some less than convincing defending. Again for the second game on the trot Gresley found themselves two goals down with hardly ten minutes on the clock.
On 8 minutes Spalding took the lead when Kevin Childs ran onto a long ball that cut the Gresley defence in two. His shot was inexplicably allowed to go through the legs of the normally reliable keeper James Pemberton and into the net.
Things got even worse for the Moat Men two minutes later. Awarded a free kick just outside the area Andy Stanhope's straight shot flew through the wall, that had parted like the Red Sea, leaving Pemberton a spectator as the ball flew past him and into the corner of the net.
Pemberton then made a superb save on 13 minutes tipping the ball over the bar from Adam Kerley's shot has the Gresley defence looked very shaky indeed. It was Gary White that was to save his side this time when, from the corner, he managed to clear Lee Hudson's effort off the line.
It took 18 minutes for the visitor's to look anything like a top three side as they'd been shook to the core in the early period of the game. Aaron O'Connor got his side back in the game when he smashed the ball home past home keeper Ian Pledger.
The Tulips could have increased the margin just before half time but after Kerley had robbed Andy Simpson of the ball his shot that beat Pemberton cannoned back off the post.
Gresley got back on equal terms 10 minutes after the re-start. Tony Hemming's throw in to Gary White was superbly played through to O'Connor just inside the box. The striker spun on a sixpence beating the defender before hitting a low shot past Pledger.
Could the impossible happen again? Unfortunately the defence were still being the authors of their own downfall. On 63 minutes Simpson's back header from a Mark Harbottle free kick needed Pemberton to push the ball away for a corner to prevent an embarrassing own goal. Spalding took full advantage of the defensive disarray and from the corner Lee Sowerby was allowed acres of space to head the ball into the net although White made a gallant attempt to prevent it.
One of the things to commend about this season's side is that their heads do not go down when losing and on 64 minutes O'Connor came within a whisker of grabbing his hat trick but his shot flew over the bar after being put through by Paul Edwards.
Just after making two substitutions Gresley were level. With the Spalding defence pushing up Jamie Barrett put a terrific ball over them and into O'Connor's path. Steve Welsh, playing what was his last game for the Tulips, was no match for the strikers pace and agility and was left for dead as O'Connor made no mistake putting the ball out of the reach of Pledger and into the net.
Gresley almost grabbed the lead on 81 minutes but Matt Millns was denied when his header was blocked on the line by his own team mate O'Connor!
The death blow came two minutes later after a rash tackle by Allan Davies that allowed Spalding to capitalise on what had become a nightmare display of defending by their visitors. Pemberton should have taken Stanhope's free kick as he'd shouted to his defenders to leave the ball. However, he didn't get to it and it dropped nicely for Sowerby who had the easiest of tasks to tap the ball home.
Manager's View
"It was a terrific game, but that is not a lot of consolation to us! To go away from home and give us a mountain to climb by conceding two goals in the first 10 minutes again is beyond belief - I thought we'd have learnt a lesson from the Brigg game.
"The defending was awful for all four of their goals and for the first time this season we have to question James Pemberton for two, maybe three of the goals. The first went through his legs while and from where I was the free kick looked a straight shot, so you have to question the wall.
"I can't question the lad's spirit as they got us back to 2-2, but we have then gone and shot ourselves in the foot.
"Paul Edwards has put his hand up for the third goal as he let their no 10 in while James has held his hands up for the fourth.
"Our defending is a concern. In the last two games we have conceded a second goal soon after the first and we've got to go back to basics."
