Match Photos
Shepshed Dynamo vs Gresley Rovers
All square at Shepshed
“It
was a better performance but not a good performance”. That was caretaker manager
Alan Titterton’s summing up of a match that Gresley Rovers should have won easily.
Gresley had far more clear cut chances, at least eight, but failed to finish
their hosts off. This was due mainly to the superb form of Shepshed’s keeper
Mark Whitehead.
Whitehead not only saved a hat-full of goal bound chances but saved a penalty
when he guessed correctly and dived to tip Simon Tucker’s spot kick against
a post.
It was the visitors who started the game the more brightly and on 8 minutes
Tucker should have put them ahead but could only put his shot wide. His luck
was not to change when only a few minutes later he again had another chance
but agonisingly put his shot the wrong side of the post.
Gresley continued to press and on 17 minutes Tucker tipped on a ball to Aiden
Callan who made no mistake and crashed home a volley into the bottom corner.
Then
five minutes later some slack defending, that has unfortunately become part
of the Gresley game of late, gave Shepshed an equaliser they didn’t deserve.
On 22 minutes a Shepshed corner resulted in James Lindley choosing to punch
a ball that looked easier to catch and got no distance with his punch. It fell
to Lee Quincey who sent it back into Gresley’s area where Andy Commander had
time to choose his spot and smash the ball home.
The half finished with Gresley making chances but failing to capitalise. Tucker
headed a Callan’s corner wide and then when clean through on goal and only the
keeper to beat somehow totally miss kicked his shot. Callan had a shot blocked
by Whitehead’s legs and then Chris Parkins headed narrowly over from the James
Lewsley corner.
Within two minutes of the re-start Gresley were back in front. Parkins, playing
one of his best games since Christmas, hit a ferocious shot that somehow home
keeper Whitehead managed to get a hand to and superbly tipped the ball over
the bar. Callan took the corner and found Chris White who hit a perfect volley
home to give Gresley the lead.
On 58 minutes came the talking point. Ian Bluck and Shepshed striker Emeka Ejiofor
went up for the ball and Ejiofor appeared to head butt Bluck as a result. The
referee had no hesitation in sending the former Burton Albion and Rocester player
off the field. What the Gresley fans could not understand was the sending off
of Bluck. The referee was called over to consult with his assistant who claimed
that the Gresley defender had retaliated by kicking Ejiofor. Much to the amazement
of the player himself, his teammates and the Gresley supporters the referee
also showed Bluck a red card for the ‘mysterious’ kick.
Within 4 minutes of the incident Shepshed were back on terms. John Folwell floated
a harmless cross into Gresley’s box which Andy Cheetham half cleared only as
far as Jason Knight, on the edge of the box. He hit the ball back towards the
goal and it crept just inside the post.
White
thought he had scored his second of the night only two minutes later but was
denied by Whitehead and on 74 minutes it was the amazing goalkeeper who kept
out an effort by Owen James, the Gresley debutante signed from Loughborough
University just before the deadline.
On 76 minutes Gresley had a blatant penalty appeal turned down. Richard Wardle
had put a ball into the home area which caused utter panic to their defenders
and has Andy Bourne prepared to shoot he was clearly pushed in the back but
the referee waved play on.
Shepshed man-of-the-match, Whitehead made yet another breath taking save when
he tipped away a Callan header which again seemed certain for the back of the
net.
Lewsley took the corner and James rose to head a powerful header which was cleared
off the line by John Folwell. Referee Caswell had apparently seen a push on
the Gresley new boy and pointed to the spot.
Tucker placed the ball on the spot and the superb Whitehead chose the right
direction and pushed the ball against the post as the Gresley striker continued
his nightmare match.
Gresley continued to press for a winner but it was not forth coming and had
to settle for a disappointing share of the points.
The manager's view of the game
"Tonight's performance was a lot better than Saturday's but it still wasn't
a good performance. I not going to be too hard on the lads because they battled
and we made a lot of chances we didn't put away; it was unbelievable.
"Simon
Tucker was put clear a couple of times and failed to put the ball away and he
chose to take the penalty that their keeper saved.
"I wasn't very pleased with the referee and his assistants. One assistant referee
gave offside on a couple of occasions in the first half when clearly they weren't.
But we have to learn to live with that and we should get on with it.
"We still tended to kick the ball about wildly a lot of the time and failed
to pick out our players. But I'm not going to criticise the team too much because
I feel there was a big improvement from Saturday.
"Their keeper kept them in the game on numerous occasions and we had one cleared
off the line and we shouldn't have missed the penalty. The goalie got to it
pushed it onto the post credit to him.
"I felt Andy Cheetham was unfairly booked. The Shepshed player struck Andy after
the tackle but the referee missed that. In all I think the referee had a bad
game for both sides tonight.
"Ian Bluck's sending off is a disappointment because we don't know how many
games he will miss. It could be one or three. It depends on how the referee
reports it.
"It's not the end of the world. All the lads are down but they've just got to
keep going. They are disappointed because with all the chances they made they
should have won the game easily. I think about 5-2 but it wasn't to be. It's
two points lost rather than three points won.
"All we can do now is to lift the lads for Saturday and get has many lads back
from injury as possible. Mark Peters looks very doubtful for the match. Stuart
Evans should be back. There is only a slight possibility of Barry Woolley and
of course we will have Chris Gray back after his suspension. Dave Whittaker
was kicking a ball about before the game tonight and he says he feels a lot
better so he's hoping to be back.
"Two games in two days takes it out of both teams and the conditions tonight
were not the best. But has for players my hands are tied because of the injuries,
suspension and the two lads leaving. I had the three young lads on the bench
but I couldn't see anywhere I could put them on. I thought Owen James had a
reasonable game although there were a couple of times when he was caught out.
"The luck will change for us and let's hope it's quickly and we go on to win
the Derbyshire Senior Cup because the supporters deserve that. Tonight a good
number turned up to support us and it's good to see that they haven't lost faith
in us. We have done well this season and we are high up in the league and we
want to finish on a high."
Shepshed Dynamo (1) 2
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Scorers: Commander 22, Knight 62 (Shepshed Dynamo); Callan 17, White
47 (Gresley Rovers).
Shepshed Dynamo: Whitehead, Folwell, Simpson, Barrett, Commander, Lawrence,
O’Toole (Newbold 45), Quincey (Holtom 90), Ejiofor, Knight, Peck. Sub not used:
Stevens.
Gresley Rovers: Lindley, Bluck, Cheetham, Wardle, James, Callan, Bourne,
Tucker, White, Parkins, Lewsley. Subs not used: Moran, Grosse, Withers.
Rovers
Star Man: Chris Parkins – always a threat.
Referee: P Caswell (Leicester).
Attendance: 245
