Derbyshire Senior Cup 2nd Round
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Tuesday, 22nd November 2005, 7.45pm
Pinxton hit for six!
Manager Gary Norton described this game as a possible banana skin but it ended up a stroll on the Moat Ground.
Pinxton gave the home supporters a bit of a scare in the first few minutes with half chances from both Jason Rohun and Darren Bettison but Gresley soon got hold of the game.
On 6 minutes Chris Gray put a downward header into the path of Aaron O'Connor who unleashed a thunderous half volley that Pinxton keeper Anthony Deakin did extremely well to tip over the bar.
Gresley only had to wait a further 5 minutes or so to take the lead. A corner from the left taken by Mickey Lyons found Gray in space and he made no mistake heading the ball home.
The visitors were under pressure and on 25 minutes Gresley doubled their lead. A fine move down the left flank involving David Holmes and Gray ended with Holmes firing a low cross into the box where O'Connor was waiting to slot the ball past Deakin and in at the near post.
O'Connor got the third a minute later when he jinxed his way past the attention of a couple of defenders before firing his shot into the net from the edge of the box.
The home side were looking very comfortable but had a scare on 32 minutes when Pinxton's Kenny Shinfield managed to get on the end of Martin Jones' free kick but his header was well saved by Gavin Saxby for what was probably his only save in the game.
O'Connor went close on 37 minutes when he was set up by Lyons but this time the striker's powerful shot from distance went just wide of the far post.
Gresley virtually ended the game as a contest on 43 minutes when they added a fourth goal. A corner from Lyons was hoofed down the pitch by a Pinxton defender only as far as Andy Simpson. Simpson put the ball through to Holmes who cleverly shielded the ball from his marker before rounding the keeper and slotting the ball home.
Norton made a change at half time replacing O'Connor, who had taken a bit of a kick on his foot towards the end of the first half, with Paul Edwards and his side where soon further ahead.
On 54 minutes Edwards did well to put the ball into Holmes who in turn passed the ball to Nathan Tate on the left. Tate ran into the area and hit a fine strike Deakin could not keep out despite getting a hand to the ball.
Pinxton's goal was then subject to an onslaught that somehow did not produce a goal. On the hour Edwards put his header just wide - three minutes later Holmes had a shot cleared off the line and Edwards then had a header hit the post.
The visitors almost got on the score sheet, but at the wrong end. A woefully short back header from Tim Hurst was picked up by Holmes but his shot was blocked by the legs of Deakin and the rebound headed back towards goal by his team mate Ben Bacon and thankfully for him, just past the post.
Holmes wrapped up the scoring on 72 minutes when he ran onto a Gary White pass down the left before turning into the area and curling a superb shot past the diving Deakin and into the top far corner of the net.
Edwards almost beat Deakin with a cheeky chip from outside the area but the keeper just managed to get a hand to the ball as it headed toward the net.
With only 3 minutes remaining Deakin pulled off another superb save to deny Edwards who had hit a ferocious shot from Holmes' pass.
Manager's View
"This game didn't turn out as expected because we normally make things difficult for ourselves. I can't remember, especially in my time here, getting over a potential banana skin with such comfort.
"From my point of view I was expecting a tough battle and fair credit to them because Pinxton worked hard all night. But, Gresley normally make things difficult - you only have to look back at the last round against Stapenhill when we were somewhat fortunate to come through that game - so I'm pleasantly surprised.
"I felt we could have gone on and got a lot more. Their goal led a little bit of a charmed life in the second half and their keeper made some great saves and they were first to the little bits and bobs. We were a little bit wasteful in some instances and unlucky in others.
"But, credit to us the lads at the back and Gavin Saxby had hardly anything to do all night and what they did have to do they did reasonably well. I was a little bit critical at half time because Pinxton did find a little bit of space early doors and once or twice from a direct ball. Their No.7 I was particularly impressed with today he caused a lot of problems off the ball and when he got the ball he was decent. So I was a little bit critical because I felt against better sides we'd have been punished. Two of our three centre halves made basic mistakes between them on three or four occasions which against sides Pnxton and that's no respect to them, are not going to get punished. We haven't conceded the third highest number of goals in our league for no reason it's because we are making basic errors at the back.
"This was the first clean sheet for two months. The last was against Spalding here at the Moat Ground at the end of September and that's a disappointing statistic really considering last year when we were keeping clean sheets for fun and if we can keep clean sheets at this level of football week in week out or as often as you can then you're always going to be with a shout and turn some of the defeats into draws and some of the draws into wins and that's what we've got to start to do quickly.
"We keep faith with the guys we've got though. You only have to look down the road at how well Burton are doing defensively at the minute without changing things around too much. They've had one or two decent results and ground stuff out and now the confidence is there in the back four. I'm hoping that similar thing will happen to ourselves.
"I took Aaron off at half time as a precaution. He got a kick on the bottom of his foot and it's a little bit sore but he wanted to come out for the second half. At four nil up we saw no reason to risk him. He was obviously a bit disappointed because he wanted to go out there and get a couple more to add to his tally but on a precautionary note obviously with league games in mind we withdrew him.
"Nathan's having a little bit of an up and down time at the minute from a confidence factor so that's a great strike for him and will give him confidence and he did well in the wingback role. We still feel he's got more to offer effectively - he's a honest lad and a cracking lad to work with and wants to learn and will only get better and the goal he's got today we know he's got in the locker and we are hoping he'll get some more.
"I was pleased David Holmes got his goals tonight because it was a tough decision to leave him out the side for Paul on Saturday. His work rate is good and for the majority of times the ball sticks with him and he doesn't give the ball away too cheaply."
