UniBond League Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 25th March 2006, 3.00pm
Goole hit for four!
Goole AFC were hit with a four goal second half blast at the Moat Ground after keeping the first half goalless.
There were very few incidents at either end but it was Gresley that had the most of any chances. On 4 minutes Aaron O'Connor fired just wide and then had a good shot blocked on 18 minutes.
On 28 minutes Gresley had a good penalty shout turned down by referee Mr Newman when Liam Chapman clearly handled the ball in the area.
Goole's first attempt of note was a speculative overhead attempt by Graham Whitehead on 33 minutes but the shot went wide.
Mr Newman then faced the wrath of Gresley supporters and management four minutes later after booking Gresley defender Chris Brindley. After receiving a cut to his ear Brindley went off to receive treatment. The play had been continuing several minutes with Brindley in the thick of things when the referee's assistant flagged and after the referee had consulted him booked Brindley for entering the field of play without permission.
This seemed to spark Gresley into action and they piled on pressure with Mickey Lyons firing just wide of a post on 38 minutes.
Paul Edwards then tested the resolve of Goole keeper Mark Welsh with a thunderous volley that Welsh did well to hold on to.
Right on the halftime whistle Gresley almost took the lead when Lyons found Edwards who fired goalward. Welsh blocked the shot with his legs but the rebound came out to Lyons on the edge of the box who cracked a volley that beat Welsh but left the cross bar rattling for several seconds afterwards.
Gresley came out for the second half looking for goals and the first one came after just 3 minutes of the restart. A free kick taken by Nicky Cater found Edwards in acres of space and he made no mistake powering his header past Welsh and into the net.
The Moatmen were now in complete charge of the game and pushed the Goole defence back deeper and deeper.
Edwards almost doubled the lead on 57 minutes when he noticed Welsh off his line before sending in a sublime chip that unfortunately found the bar instead of the back of the net.
Gresley only had to wait a further minute, however, because O'Connor ran onto a pinpoint through ball from Jamie Barrett before firing past Welsh and into the far corner.
On 79 minutes Edwards was inches away from extending the lead when he almost connected with a superb cross from the right from O'Connor but Goole defender Nigel Danby managed to slid in and take the ball off the striker's toe.
Gresley's third goal came on 83 minutes when Matt Millns was allowed the freedom to chose his spot when he headed home Gary White's corner.
Goole were a beaten side by now and six minutes later their agony was increased when substitute Steve Gomm, on for Edwards, scored his first goal for the club with another powerful header from Allan Davies' free kick with the visiting defence nowhere to be seen.
On 90 minutes Lyons put a shot over the bar but Gresley keeper Tommy Whittle, largely unemployed for most of the game, needed to be alert to save from James Bonarious hoping for a consolation goal.
Manager's View
"To say that the first half was lacklustre is an overstatement to be honest. Me and Mick (Curry) were falling asleep on the touchline. In all seriousness it was frustrating because it was like the first twenty-five minutes or so against Belper. We were just not getting hold of the ball and holding on to it long enough to bring the midfield into play and then try and get the front men into play because they were playing quite a high line. I also felt there was a bit of a problem with the front two because our work rate wasn't to the normal standard; the standard they've set themselves recently. So it was pleasing to get a response in terms of them both getting on the score sheet relatively early on in the second half.
"I felt that once we did get in front we controlled the game and restricted them to very few opportunities if any and it was nice to get the third and fourth goal. But when you consider the two sublime efforts from Mickey Lyons and Paul Edwards that hit the bar and then Paul looked certain to score on the goal line but their number six got an amazing last ditch tackle in to clear off the line I thought it could have been more in the second half. The lads deserve their clean sheet because they've been few and far between.
"With regards to Chris Brindley's booking to be fair to the officials there was a bit of miss communication. Chris had to come off for a blood injury and the ball was out for a goal kick. The referee in my and Mick's opinion indicated for Chris to come on. Ten minutes later Chris has got involved in some action and realised 'what are you doing back on here?' the linesman flagged and the referee consulted him and asked if the linesman had given him permission to come on - so he booked Chris for coming on to the field of play without permission
"That was trade mark Steve Gomm goal from a fantastic cross from Allan Davies. When he's come on in the last two or three games he's held the ball up and brought others into play and he's done a job. I'm sure he's frustrated that he's only getting a little tastes, fifteen, twenty minutes here and there. So he will be relieved to get the goal - he'll be delighted to get the goal but I think he realises that the run of form that Paul's in - three goals in three starts - since he's come back into the side and obviously Aaron's got on the sheet again today Steve's just pleased to be part of things and as long as he's in the fourteen I'm not really sure he's overly bothered. Yes, he would like to play more but it was nice to get him on the sheet today.
"Aaron has scored thirty two goals but he's had a lot of assistance, as he acknowledges, from his team mates - yes he's taking all the plaudits but as to Paul Edwards he's come into a run of form at this stage. That's the best run of league form, three straight wins. It's the first time we've achieved that this season, nine points on the bounce and it's come at the right time."
