UniBond League Division One
Coronation park, Eastwood
Tuesday, 15th November 2005, 7.45pm
Moat Men hang on for three points
The phrase 'a game of two halves' is banded about frequently in match reports from all levels of football. But, in this case it is fully justified. Or to be more accurate a game of two thirds and a third!
Gresley were three goals up but the final twenty minutes or so saw frantic defending from the visitors and all out attacking from the home side which resulted in them clawing back only two goals as their reward.
It all started so well for Gresley and except for a free header on 12 minutes by Eastwood's Peter Knox that went over they were largely untroubled in the first half.
Early on Aaron O'Connor, starting his first game since recovering from an ankle injury he picked up four weeks previous showed glimpses of what Gresley had been missing. On 18 minutes he brought the ball down superbly and shot which home keeper Danny Bryant did well to save at the near post.
Five minutes later a free kick by Allan Davies into the area found the ball coming back to O'Connor who unleashed a thunderous first time goal bound shot that was blocked as Gresley took control of the game.
On 25 minutes a long-range shot from Carl Slater warmed the hands of Bryant who needed two attempts to gab hold of the ball.
The goal that looked inevitable came on 36 minutes. O'Connor collected a pass from Chris Gray skipped round the advancing Bryant and fired home through a crowd of defenders.
Two minutes later the visitors doubled their advantage and again it was O'Connor who did the damage. A pinpoint through ball from Gary White to the striker who slipped his marker before again rounding the keeper and firing in a low shot into the far corner of the net.
With the first half nearly at an end Gresley were awarded a free kick on the left taken by Gary White. The ball was swung into the area and who should pop up to head the ball into the net was former Badger Matt Millns.
For the first twenty five minutes of the second half Eastwood huffed and puffed but could not grab a goal or make an attempt on goal. Then on 68 minutes the Badgers got that little bit of luck that's sometimes needed in a game like this. Davies, in an attempt to hook the ball out of danger, instead sent the ball miles high and back towards the Gresley area. Adie Francis reacted quickly but his shot was blocked but the ball found Paul Mitchell who smashed it past Gresley keeper Gavin Saxby.
Three minutes later Gresley almost restored their three goal lead when David Holmes played a short corner to Gray who then played the ball towards goal where Paul Edwards tried a cheeky back heel that needed to be cleared off the line.
To be honest, that was the last attempt of note on the Badgers goal as Eastwood sent wave after wave of attacks into the Gresley half who were defending ever deeper as the game wore on.
Eastwood should have grabbed another goal on 73 minutes when Saxby fumbled a high free kick allowing Francis to beat him to the ball. Unfortunately for Eastwood the final shot at the empty net only found the side netting. Gresley had had a let off.
Except for a good passing move between Edwards and Eric Graves the final ten minutes was all Eastwood.
On 82 minutes they were awarded a free kick and as was expected they floated the ball high into the area. Saxby came to punch the ball clear but was nowhere near achieving his aim and was beaten to the ball by Deon Meikle who glanced his header into the empty net.
Gresley were on the rack and were clearly rattled by the Badger's comeback. If anyone was going to score again it looked like the home side.
Eastwood almost grabbed a deserved point right at the death when Colin Daniel hit a 35-yard screamer that looked like it was heading into the top corner but right at the end the ball swerved and went just wide of the intended target.
The Gresley team, management and travelling supporters left Coronation Park mightily relieved to have hung on to the three points but shorn of any remnants of finger nails!
Manager's View
"We never do anything easy do we? I can't believe it - I really can't believe it. I'm so disappointed in the manner in which we finished the game after all the positives from the first half and to some extent the first twenty-two and a half minutes of the second. We did things well and obviously when we were three nil up we were not going to be banging bodies forward and lose our shape.
"They (Eastwood) had a bit of luck. Allan Davies went to clear the ball out of the ground but it went fifty thousand yards up into the air and it took an awful ricochet. Their lad hit a shot that was safe but it hit someone and it fell nicely for him on ten yards and you are not going to miss from there!
"You can't really criticise anyone for that but it gave them a lifeline. We said at half time that if you give them a lifeline this Eastwood Town side will scrap for everything and out you under allsorts of pressure. I thought we'd weathered it to be honest. The second goal was very disappointing. We have a very soft underbelly at the moment in terms of the quality of goal we're giving away. But, that was it - I think we'd gone and for the last fifteen, twenty minutes Eastwood absolutely battered us and they deserved a point in my opinion.
"We sat far to deep inviting the pressure on us. Carl Slater and Jamie Barrett had bossed the midfield for seventy minutes but they were asked to do far too much and you could see that they were physically five or ten yards deeper off their men. First half and twenty minutes of the second they were snapping in there and winning tackles and getting us going forward. But because we were camped on the edge of our eighteen-yard box no matter what we tried to do we just couldn't get out. It's easy to say from the touchline but when you're in that situation then the panic sets in and you do what you feel is right. Naturally you're going to retreat but we managed to hang on.
"We've a lot of work to do to turn ourselves around defensively. Ultimately, though, the positives are it was a win away from home, midweek, which are the most difficult in my opinion of games to get three points in. It ends a run of three defeats on the trot in the league and it give us a little bit of a foundation to go into Saturday's home game against Colwyn Bay.
"We knew it was going to be that sort of game. The pitch has taken a fair bit of hammer from the weather unfortunately. All pitches are going to have that sort of hammer and that's been a worry from the start of the season. It's ok playing some great football on good surfaces but now we're getting into mid-November and the winter months ahead we are going to be playing week in week out on pitches like this. I felt for seventy minutes we'd acquitted ourselves very well and showed what we'd got in the locker in that respect. We'd scrapped and battled and obviously having the quality of Aaron O'Connor up front showed what we'd missed in these last five games. His goals were absolutely top draw finishes, both of them. There was a lot of pressure on Matt Millns but he popped up and got one.
"I feel sorry for Paul because I felt they deserved a point and that's not being condescending. Anyone who was here tonight was expecting us to concede because we'd gone. Gavin Saxby was under a bit of pressure and flapped at one or two and then the goal came. But, to his credit he kept going and tried to push us out and command things. We will sit down and have a chat with him and try to build his confidence back up as it's took a battering tonight. He's held his hands up in the dressing room for the second goal.
"I took Aaron off as a bit of a precaution. We'd spoken about it at half time and I wanted to see how the first period of the second half went. With twenty-two minutes to go I put Eric Graves for Aaron, we were three nil up and I was thinking ahead to Saturday. The lad's had five games out - he's got an ankle injury and it was a risk starting him. But I'm glad we did because he's got two cracking goals. They scored a minute after he came off and then you're beginning to think you would live to regret your decision, but I'd probably do the same again because it's not about the short time it's about the long term. He's got through that tonight and he'll be fit to start on Saturday."
