Match Photos
Gresley Rovers vs Bedworth United
Unlucky Moatmen as Bedworth steal the points
Boss
John McGinlay's decided to go on the attack and play with just three at the
back. And has Rovers dominated this contest for the first hour; his tactics
seemed set to bring its reward of three points and the first victory of the
season.
With midfielder John Allcock still injured, McGinlay brought in Richard Wardle,
Dale Hautin, Chris Gray and Chris Parkins to start the match.
On six minutes Lee Westwood played a great ball through to Andy Cheetham whose
low cross resulted in a good effort by Westwood being blocked by a United defender.
A piece of nice footballing skill saw United's Paul White beat Alex Green before
blasting well over but Rovers were soon on the attack again with Gray heading
wide from a Cheetham cross on 18 minutes.
Referee Steve Flanaghan seemed to miss a foul on Westwood in the penalty area,
and then Rovers had another strong claim for a penalty turned down when Neil
Kitching was shoved.
Rovers' pressure had the United defence working hard with Kitching shooting
straight at the keeper after turning brilliantly in the box, then Parkins saw
an effort blocked, with Cheetham firing the rebound wide.
The home side almost took the lead on 44 minutes, but Kitching could not get
his flying header from a Gray cross on target.
On 52 minutes Rovers should have taken the. Gray put a superb ball through
to Parkins, who then picked out Woolley, but the central defender headed over.
On 55 minutes Parkins latched on to a low cross from Andy Cheetham and, after
seeing his first effort hit the post, he made no mistake from the rebound, firing
it past the stranded keeper Craig Glover.
Parkins then set up Green with a fantastic square ball, but the midfielder
saw his first time shot fly just over Glover's bar.
Then the match took a bizarre twist on 64 minutes with Wednesfield referee
Steve Flanaghan making a decision that astonished players and fans alike. There
appeared to be contact between Chris Partridge and Rovers' Chris Gray as the
Bedworth striker slotted home from a corner.
The referee at first seemed to disallow the goal, and then appeared to point
to the spot for a penalty before changing his mind yet again and giving a goal.
United's equaliser seemed to spur Rovers on and sent them charging forward
in search of a second goal with Gray failing to hit the target from six yards.
On 78 minutes Kitching saw his header from a Westwood corner come back off
the underside of the crossbar, and Bedworth charged down the other end and scored
what proved to be the winning goal after a James Lindley error.
He failed to kick a back pass by Hautin and Partridge duly accepted the gift
presented to him.
The Manager's after match view:
"I was disappointed that we had dominated the game for 70 minutes and made
so many chances, over 20, and could only manage one goal. Bedworth, for 20 minutes
overran our mid-field. I think that was because of inexperience and that combined
with a goal keeping error allowed them to score two.
"We have a long way to go yet and the team has still to gel together but I'm
confident that we will put those chances away if we keep creating them. I don't
think the Moat Ground has seen so many chances made in one match for a long
time.
"Our next chance to put things right will be at home on Saturday against Gloucester
City."
Gresley Rovers (0) 1
Bedworth United (0) 2
Scorers: Parkins 55 (Gresley Rovers); Partridge 64,78 (Bedworth United).
Rovers: Lindley, Wardle, Cheetham, Hautin, Woolley, Evans, Westwood
(Peters 81), Green, Kitching (Bedward 78), Parkins, Gray (Shaw 85).
Bedworth United: Glover, Crowley (Drewitt 56), Thompson, Sanders, Richardson,
Robinson, John, White, Webster, Partridge (Brown 85), Whitmore (Parsons).
Rovers
Star Man: Andy Cheetham - getting better every game.
Referee: S Flanaghan (Wednesfield).
Attendance: 368
