UniBond League Division One
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 18th November 2006, 3.00pm
Rovers give Cammell Laird the hump!
Cammell Laird arrived at the Moat Ground with the proud record of only being beaten once in this season's league programme so far and sitting high in third place but they left South Derbyshire with that record absolutely shattered as Gresley Rovers stunned them with a superb display of attacking football in the second half.
Laird showed that their league position is not a fluke as they opened the game in spectacular style taking the lead with hardly two minutes on the clock.
Having won a corner from the left the ball was swung into the Gresley area by Anthony Lynch for Jamie McGuire to head on Gresley keeper Tommy Whittle could not hold onto the ball and Chris Nezyania stabbed the ball home.
Gresley were once again facing a mountain to climb as the visitors continued to make the running.
A poor clearance by Whittle on 10 minutes almost gifted the Laird a second goal as the ball fell to the goal scorer but this time Nezyania could only shoot straight at the keeper when well placed.
On 19 minutes Lee Atherton was allowed a free header from Michael Cole's free kick but the effort went wide.
The home side was finding it tough to get any sort of rhythm going to their game and were resorting to the long high ball out of defence, which was meat and drink for the visiting defenders.
It was just over half an hour before Gresley had any sort of a chance. Aaron O'Connor made a good run down the left after collecting Nicky Carter's throw in before sending over a low cross that just evaded the on rushing David Blenkinsopp making his Gresley debut.
Two minutes later O'Connor again made a good run down the left after beating the offside trap. Laird keeper Paul Moores came out of his area to try and prevent the striker but O'Connor skipped around the keeper leaving him on the deck before seeing his shot cleared off the line by Lynch
Deep into time added on Gresley were level when Mark Smith was upended in the area by John Couch after making a fine run into the danger area. O'Connor sent Moores the wrong way from the spot to take his side into the break all square.
Laird started the second period strongly with Gresley keeper having to make a good block from Lynch's long-range shot after just four minutes of the re-start. Whittle again came to the rescue from the corner kick tipping Atherton's effort away.
On 59 minutes Gresley took the lead. A shot by Tom Groves was deflected off a defender and Blenkinsopp reacted the quickest to shoot home from close in.
A couple of minutes after the goal Laird's keeper had to leave the field to be replaced by defender Atherton and he'd barely warmed his gloves before he was picking the ball out of his net. A superb flowing move down the left saw Smith flying toward goal leaving substitute Eddie Jebb in his wake, he looked up to see O'Connor in the middle just outside the area. He picked him out with a pinpoint pass and the striker did the rest. O'Connor controlled the ball with his right before hammering an unstoppable shot with his left foot into the top corner of the net.
Laird's responded and on 65 minutes had a chance to pull a goal back when Mike Rimmer was allowed a free header that flew just over the bar.
In the last ten minutes of the game Lairds had two more chances the first when McGuire fired past the far post with Whittle beaten and then a couple of minutes later a quick free kick on the edge of the box saw the Gresley keeper having to get down low to his left to block a shot from Cole.
On 88 minutes, and after using all their substitutes, Laird were down to 10 men when Lynch had to hobble off the pitch
With time up on the clock Gresley made it four with another quick break. O'Connor picked the ball up deep in his own half and made a superb run through the middle and just it looked as if he was going to go all the way for his hat trick he left two defenders stranded by unselfishly picking out substitute Paul Edwards on his left who smashed a low ball past Atherton to cap off a superb second half performance from Gresley.
McGuire had one last effort saved by Whittle right at the end of the game but the afternoon belonged to the Moatmen.
Manager's View
"I thought it was going to be one of those days a long afternoon! It was a long afternoon but for different reasons.
"I've lost count of the times we started games in that manner this season and everything that we said in terms of that first half performance from Cammell Laird - they were fantastic. They were fantastic because we let them be fantastic. We'd done a lot of home work on them we knew exactly how they were and then within two minutes of the game, from their first set play Nick Carter has put his hand up to switching off for the guy getting the initial time and space for the free header and then a little bit of a mix up - question marks over whether Tom (Whittle) should have come and claimed it with authority on the edge of his six yard box. I'm not sure he's claiming responsibility for it but without the benefit of cameras we've got to go on people's judgement but I certainly think my goalkeeper should be more positive in those situations.
"But, having said that, we find ourselves two minutes into the game one nil down against a side that's been beaten once only this season and you've got it all to do.
"I felt we looked edgy, we didn't get going at all but having said that after about half an hour we fashioned out a couple of half chances - one flashed across the goal, we've had one or two other near things and probably our best bit of football and the bits of football we did play in the first half were few and far between. The best bit of football we played we ended up getting a penalty and Aaron tucked it away - obviously a good time to get back on terms.
"I said at half time that if they'd have had a bit more cutting edge I feared we could have been two or three nil down at half time. But sometimes in football you have to take the luck that's handed to you and the fact that we went in one one instead of one nil down or two nil down we had time to regroup and get amongst a few people and strong words were said to a few people at half time and second half it was almost like we'd changed shirts.
"Because the football we that played people were all of a sudden people were showing, people were available, we played some good stuff. The work rate for me was phenomenal in the second half and that was the biggest factor and the biggest difference that we were getting into people's faces and denying them time and space to play football and in the first half we didn't do that. That was fundamental for me in the second half.
"David (Blenkinsopp) has come in and he knew no-one in the dressing room other than Dan Douglas before the kick off having signed late Thursday night and he's got his poachers goal. It was a great ball in from Tom Groves and we had a lucky ricochet in the box and bang he's scored and that's what we've been crying out for somebody to do that.
"Aaron's goal, the third goal, the flowing football from the left wing - a fantastic ball across from Mark Smith - a touch and a finish like that you'll struggle to see at a the highest level. In fairness to the goalkeeper, the out field player who'd just been placed between the sticks, two proper goalkeepers wouldn't have saved that. The special thing about Aaron O'Connor is that he has got that in the locker.
"We just wanted to see the game out then really and keep doing the right things but the icing on the cake was Paul Edwards coming off the bench - I thought Aaron was very unselfish when he had the pace and the ability to go past the last defender for a chance of his hat trick and he's just sold the whole defence by a reverse pass to Paul Edwards who tucked it away and I'm hoping now that that might be the little bit of luck to go on and score. So to have all three of your forwards on the score sheet is a rarity this season and it's a nice feeling.
"The goals we give away are so frustrating because they are cheap - many goals are cheap. There are some good goals against us, some well-worked goals that you just have to hold your hands up. We rode our luck a little bit in the first half and with a little more cutting edge in the final third Cammell Laird could have found themselves in a very good position at half time.
"That's been our problem in some situations when we have had good first halves, Stocksbridge Park Steels is one of them were we've created chances and played some good football but we haven't killed sides off and we've been punished in the second half. This times it's been the other way round and we've managed to put in a very good second half to win four one against a team that's only been beaten once this season. It's a big result for us depending on other results that could put us in the top half of the table for the first time this season and that for me is big but it's only big as long as we go and build on it at Brigg next Saturday.
"Arguably, that's the best second half we've played all season in terms of getting an end product from it. Stocksbridge was a sublime performance right at the start of the season we played some cracking football but we went in nil nil at half time.
"To score three goals in a second half and really please the supporters - it was a good atmosphere today - and that first half performance was as good as any side we'd seen here in the league this season but, to go and put that performance in the second half I would say yes, it is arguably the best second half performance but we need to be doing that for longer periods of the game rather that a half here a half there we've got to make it eighty ninety minutes of games. You're never going to play that well for ninety minutes but when you do get the opportunity and you get your chances you've got to take them. When the other team has their little spell you've then got to dig in and defend.
"I still felt we switched off once or twice. Tom Whittle's been called into action with two or three half decent saves in the second half so we know we are not there yet defensively but it's a big boost and I'm particularly pleased for the supporters and especially the chairman. It's a big result for us today.
"We've just been teasing Colin Hoyle about his run through the middle. He looked like he was going to go all the way and he slipped an intelligent pass through to Aaron to try and get on the end of it. I'm pleased for Colin today because it was a tough decision to leave him out and Colin would probably expected to have been on the bench again today had Barry Woolley not had that problem with a sciatic nerve in his back on Thursday night. We are going to rest Barry for a few days and hopefully if Hinckley still allow him to be with us we won't use him on Tuesday night giving him the opportunity to get that right and then we've got some tough decisions to make next week.
"I thought Dave Blenkinsopp showed some very good signs today. He was a little nervous and gave the ball away a few times in the first half but you've got to allow that - he's only nineteen - but I think that over the eighty minutes or so that he was on the pitch we've seen enough to know he's not going to be a one game wonder. He's fairly fit but he did look a little bit leggy at the end. He has been getting twenty minutes most weekends for Nuneaton's first team but playing in Nuneaton's reserve team fairly regularly as well and obviously with the situation we're in goal scoring wise and forwards who haven't been performing this year we felt we needed to strengthen in that area. We'd like to have done it the week before but it wasn't to be but we managed to get him late on Thursday night. Alan Titterton has done a lot of work for us this week setting that deal up also Tony Kirkland - a special mention for them because they worked hard on Thursday night to get that through. For Dave to play look half decent and get a goal is satisfying for a manager when he throws somebody in without seeing him play. Roger Ashby holds him in very high regard and says he's one of the best finishers at the club and just wants him out for games."
