UniBond League Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 5th November 2005, 3.00pm
Kendal carry off the points
Gresley Rovers slipped to their first home defeat of the season and their third loss in succession.
This was a typical game of two halves in which the visitors Kendal Town shaded the first half and the Moat Men clearly the better of the two teams in the second.
Gavin Saxby returned to the number one shirt and was largely untroubled for the majority of the game. His opposite number James Salisbury, however, was responsible for denying Gresley on numerous occasions and ensured the three points went back up the M6.
Gresley went close after just a couple of minutes when Jamie Barrett fired past the post. Paul Edwards then put a volley just wide from 25 yards after connecting with a weak defensive from Kendal.
On 17 minutes Kendal took the lead when Matt Millns was caught in possession on the bye line and Ged Smith stole the ball. His pass to the feet of Lee Ashcroft gave the former West Brom man the easiest of tasks putting the ball past Saxby and into the net.
Tony Hemmings was forced to leave the field after sustaining a knee injury replaced by Chris Gray and it was Gray who almost got Gresley back on terms.
On 22 minutes Gray hit a goal bound shot towards the top corner of the net but Salisbury made a superb save getting his finger tips to the ball to deny the Gresley midfielder.
Three minutes later Gary White sent a David Beckham like 50 yard cross field pass to Eric Graves who took the ball down perfectly but unfortunately he put his shot over the bar.
On the half hour Kendal had a golden chance to double their advantage when Ged Smith's free kick found Dave Foster in acres of space but amazingly he managed to put his header wide of the gaping goal.
Kendal should have been down to 10 men just before the half time break when Russell McKenna cynically tripped Allan Davies after being easily beaten by the Gresley defender. McKenna, who had been booked earlier, should have been walking to the dressing room but for some reason only known by referee Mr Warren he allowed the Kendal man to continue after awarding the home side a free kick and showing Davies a yellow card for his protests. McKenna was replaced for the second half, which came as no surprise.
The second half belonged to Gresley but as hard as they tried Kendal's goal led a charmed life and along with some breathtaking saves from Salisbury they managed to hold firm.
Just two minutes into the half Graves put an absolutely mouth watering cross into Kendal's area but there were no Gresley players on hand to get the final touch. Davies then provided a cross that Gray just failed to connect with and then Graves, having his best game since joining Gresley, again put in a cross that just eluded David Holmes at the far post.
It was inevitable that Kendal would get a sniff of a chance with Gresley pushing forward but they were very few and far between. One of them came on 62 minutes but after a good, swift passing build up Stuart Cliff disappointed by firing wide at the end.
On 72 minutes a fine pass from Mickey Lyons to White led to the Gresley defender sending over a cross that the normally reliable Salisbury failed to control. The ball fell nicely for Graves and seeing the keeper off the line tried a lob that just sailed over the bar.
Sailsbury didn't make any mistakes on 82 minutes when he again superbly tipped over a goal bound effort this time denying Carl Slater his moment of glory.
Two minutes later one of the rare second half chances Kendall had should have finished the game. Ashcroft put Ricky Mercer in on goal but he amazingly put his shot wide when scoring looked odds on.
Saxby, largely a spectator for most of the match, did need to be on his toes when he was called on to save a volley from Chris Ward on 85 minutes.
The game finished with Gresley well on top but Ashcroft's first half goal was enough for Kendal.
Manager's View
"I felt, especially with the second performance, that we deserved something but again we've lost the game due to a goal we've given away by an individual error. It was an awful goal to give away to be honest. Then the rest of the first half followed suit - we looked disjointed and we were at sixes and sevens for long periods of the first half. Having said that we did have a little ten-minute spell. Chrissy Gray went on and brought a fantastic save off their keeper. Then Gary White put a ball across and Chrissy had a great goal bound header that came off the back off a defenders head who knew nothing about it. I then turned to Mick (Curry) and said I think it's going to one of those days!
"We then had another chance when Eric Graves brought down a fantastic ball from Gary White's cross but was disappointed that he put it over from a good position.
"In fairness we had a lot of work to do half time. A lot of things were said and the only positive thing I could say out of the first half was that we were only one-nil down and still in the game.
"Straight from the kick off in the second half we created a couple of chances and there was only one team in it. The only chances they had was when we got a bit frantic towards the end trying to get the ball forward. Gavin Saxby only made one save in the second half and apart from he's hardly been called upon.
"The football we played in the second half and the chances and half chances we created I felt we were unlucky. Their keeper pulled off some good saves and the ball just was not dropping and Kendal hung on for it.
"Second half they set up a bit more defensively possibly and they've got a clean sheet at the end of the day and that's vital. That's what we're missing at the moment. I said to the players before the game and in training that we've got to start getting clean sheets from somewhere because we are going to come against sides like Kendal, one of my favourites to do well this year, and they are coming into their own now.
"I was recently talking to Tony Hesketh, their manager before the game and they've had a similar spell to ours in terms of injuries and they are coming out of the other end of it now and we're desperate to do the same. Matt Millns got an important hour in today. I felt he was a little off it in the first half but second half he was a little bit better and he'll benefit from that hour. We are just desperate to get Aaron back into the fold and then get everyone fit and try and get a settled squad.
"I thought Eric Graves did well down the right pulling a few strings for us and creating a lot. He put in a fantastic ball in for David Holmes who was just inches away from it during the second half.
"Chris came on for Tony Hemmings, who is have a rough spell at the moment with regard to injury, and could have had an hat trick on a better day and showed flashes of the quality he has.
"It was a big decision to leave Mickey Lyons out because creatively he been one of our better players this season but we wanted to have a look at Eric on the right and give us a bit of balance. Carl vindicated our decision to leave him in - the way he puts himself about he's got a fantastic engine.
"Jamie Barrett had a quiet game compared to recent standards he set himself and it's difficult to reach those heights all of the time. When Mickey went on we were applying sustained pressure so we decided to take the risk to go three at the back and Mickey knitted things together nicely and almost unlocked things for us. He's done well for us today.
"I've got no complaints about the second half but lots for the first half. We need to sustain things for eighty, eighty-five minutes not just forty-five. We were fantastic in the second half but had given ourselves a mountain to climb - frustrating!"
