UniBond League Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 21st January 2006, 3.00pm
Important win for Gresley
Gresley Rovers entertained one of the joint leaders Bridlington Town and need to get a good result to keep their hopes of promotion on track. Town were five points ahead of the Moatmen having played two games more and were themselves hoping to bounce back after their recent league defeat.
The opening was very bitty with neither side managing a chance of any note until the 16th minute when Mickey Lyons flashed a shot wide.
Four minutes later Town had a good chance to take the lead when Ben Eastwood was put through by Martin Thacker but he delayed his final shot and was tackled by Chris Brindley who cleared the danger.
Gresley midfielder Carl Slater then tried a speculative long shot on 26th minute that dipped at the very last minute almost catching the Town keeper Nick Baxter off guard as the ball just cleared the bar.
Town, who'd had the better of the first half hour, took the lead on 29 minutes. Gresley only half cleared a Thacker free kick as far as the edge of the area and the waiting Wayne Wallace hit a good low shot that gave Gresley keeper little chance as the ball flew threw a host of players and into the net with the aid of a post.
Gresley had a chance to draw level on 34 minutes but Lyons' shot again went the wrong side of an upright.
Town should have doubled their advantage a minute later when a good move ended with Paul Wilson laying the ball nicely for Eastwood but the move was spoiled by a shot well over the bar.
Gresley were beginning to get on top and they were rewarded on 42 minutes. A Town corner was turned into a superb display of counter attacking football when Brindley's header allowed Lyons to make a fine run out of defence before putting a sublime through ball for Aaron O'Connor to collect and race forward. With the visiting defenders attention grabbed by a clever run by Slater, the striker made no mistake as he put the ball past Baxter for his 22nd goal of the season.
O'Connor had two chances to put the game beyond the reach of the visitors in the final two minutes of the first half. The first chance saw his goal bound shot deflected away for a corner by Carl Giblin's last ditch tackle and then in added time on Baxter made a fine block to deny O'Connor his second goal.
The second half began with Gresley on top and they went on to take control of the half piling pressure on their visitors.
Within a minute of the restart a Gary White free kick found Andy Simpson down the right who then made his way into the box before driving a shot that flew across the face of the goal.
David Holmes then went close on 47 minutes after Simpson had slipped him a good pass but his shot went wide.
Town's Wallace made a useful run through the middle on 50 minutes but his final shot sailed over the bar.
Four minutes later Gresley put together the best move of the match but Slater finished with a shot that ended well wide of the mark.
Holmes went close on 72 minutes. After controlling the ball he turned and fired a shot that Baxter did well to save.
Two minutes later O'Connor fastened on to a woefully short back pass but the angle was just too tight and his shot ended up in the side netting.
O'Connor, who could have had a bag full of goals, was denied on 79 minutes when his shot was cleared off the line by Giblin.
Although Gresley were well in control and pressing the visitors back the goal they deserved seemed to have eluded them until Holmes popped up with the winner. With only three minutes left of the game Brindley expertly headed a long ball down from the edge of Town's box to Holmes who thumped a first time shot goalwards. And, although Baxter got a good hand to the ball, the shot was just too powerful and ended in the net to give the home side a fully deserved three points.
Manager's View
"It would have been a total travesty if we hadn't have won all three points today. The first half I felt was pretty even. They dictated the first twenty minutes but then we come back into the game after conceding a disappointing goal from our point of view. It was a good strike. Gavin (Saxby) didn't have much of a chance when it went in off the post. The disappointing factor is that it was from a set play - their front man made himself big and strong on the edge of the box - but we were defending too deep and we should have got a body in the way but we didn't and the ball went through a ruck of players and they were one-nil up. Before that we were struggling to get our game going and I though it was going to be a long afternoon.
"The goal changes things and we came out a little bit and we had to get the game by the scruff of the neck and we did and I was pleased. Then Aaron (O'Connor) got his goal, which was the first chance he'd had in the game, and he took it well. It was a fantastic ball from Mickey Lyons but don't under estimate the run of Carl Slater who was able to take a defender across leaving Aaron one-on-one and his pace is always going to cause problems and he took it well. In quick succession we had another couple of good chances. One was a carbon copy when Mickey sent the ball through to Aaron again and he worked his opportunity well but unfortunately it was saved. In injury time Aaron had another chance this time Slater is screaming square but in fairness to Aaron we've said when you get in that position get your head down. He turned his defender and again forced the keeper into a save. So I thing the half time whistle couldn't have come soon enough for Bridlington.
"We were disappointed in the manner of our performance because we need to be getting the ball down a little bit more. I said to the lads at half time that when we got the ball down in little phases we looked a good side. The problem was that we were second to the second ball in the first half which meant we could get hold of the ball and get it down and play from a base. Second half, from the whistle on, we dominated the game and that's something I usually don't say. But we did we dominated the game and chance after chance went begging - good chances not half chances, very good chances. Aaron could have had four today and I said to Mick (Curry) we've played superbly well and created enough chances to have won two games today and the way that we are sometimes we switch off occasionally. Case in point, from a corner we just left the guy free and he got a toe to the ball and fortunately it went wide. I thought it was going to be one of those games were we had enough chances to win it and then get caught at the end. But, I'm delighted that for once we were on the right side of some late drama in a game.
"David Holmes was fantastic as was Chris Brindley who had a massive part in the goal. We were going for it at the end trying to get bodies forward and Chris found himself in there and in fairness it wasn't pretty we tossed the ball in and Chris got a head to it in the box and it fell nicely for Dave and although the keeper got a good hand on it, it had enough power to go in to the net.
"The win was thoroughly deserved and I was very pleased with second half performance."
