UniBond League Division One South
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 10th November 2007, 3.00pm
Ten men Rovers lose at home
For the second game in succession Gresley Rovers had a player dismissed and a goal scored in somewhat controversial circumstances.
Playing against a strong blustery wind Rovers were nearly undone with hardly a minute on the clock when a pass from former Moatman Dave Whittaker picked out fellow striker Doryill Proffitt who hammered a low shot that was very well held by keeper David Clarke.
The wind assisted Alsager three minutes later when a long punt down field by keeper Matt Conkie deceived defender Dan Douglas as the ball bounced over his head to Jeff McGraul and with Clarke in two minds whether to come for the ball or stay on his line the winger fired well wide of the target.
Rovers hit back and had two shots from debutant Danny Blair whose attempt as cleared off the line and Shaun Ridgway's deflected away for a corner.
Town were pressing Rovers and Proffitt hit a shot that was blocked at the near post.
Rovers' Chris Sleath then had a half chance but hit his shot straight into the midriff of Conkie.
The visitors again went close to opening the scoring with just seconds on the clock before the half time break but Clarke made a superb reflex save at his near post as Proffitt looked certain to score.
Nicky Carter almost grabbed the opener when he noticed Conkie off his line and tried an audacious shot from distance that had the keeper scurrying back and grabbing the ball just under his bar.
Town then went close when a free kick from Ryan Baker picked out Whittaker whose shot was well saved by Clarke.
To be perfectly honest there was not much more to report on a fairly uninspiring second half until the 77th minute when the referee Mr Smart made a decision that turned the game.
Whitaker made a run towards the Rovers' goal when Douglas brought him down about 25 yards from goal. The referee adjudged that Douglas had been the last man and denied a goal scoring opportunity showing the young defender a straight red card. However, the point could be argued as fellow defender Martyn Rowntree was closing in to cover the run.
Alsager players looked to have had sympathy with Douglas as many of them consoled him as he trotted off the field.
The sending off seemed to unsettle the home side and they conceded a goal at the end of normal time again in controversial circumstances.
Substitute Tony Hemmings appeared to have been fouled down the right when robbed of the ball but the referee ignored the appeals. Chris Budrys then miss hit his shot but the ball found Ashley Miller at the far post who smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
Rovers went close to grabbing a point in injury time as Ridgway flashed a shot across the face of the goal but just wide of the far post.
Neither side deserved all three points with a share of the spoils possibly the just outcome but as they say 'that's football'.
Manager's View
I think that was the worst performance of the season and we've just informed the players to be fair not many of them needed informing.
"We knew we didn't play particularly well today and we'd have said the same even if we'd managed to hang on for a point. Losing a goal in the last minute is always hard to take but points or not the performance was not anywhere near the standard that we expect and we've been building up to recently regardless of the sending off.
"I thought we battled well first half and we can excuse a little bit of lack of quality because of the conditions with the strong wind. In the second half we didn't get going all across the park.
"The biggest crime for me was the amount of times we gave the ball away in situations when it would have been easier to keep it. We passed the ball out of play numerous occasions and we've given our front men scraps to feed off all afternoon and it's disappointing because we've not had too many performances like that recently.
"For me there are very few positives to come out of the game other than maybe the goalkeeper's performance and Miles (Chamberlain) up until he came off injured and maybe Grovesy (Tom Groves) that's about it really.
"Really not a lot of quality out there. The ball was like a hot potato at times and it's disappointing, really disappointing.
"We got ourselves in a great position and we came away with a win at Kidsgrove then two home games coming up both of which we've been down to ten men and not got a point out of them.
"We've taken some good strides forward in recent weeks and we've equally taken some hefty strides backwards in the last two home games.
"With regards to the sending off and if I'm being biased, I thought he was a long way out but if the boot was on the other foot I would have expected their defender to have had a red card so I can't really complain about it.
"Again we got ourselves into trouble of our own making. It was a three-on-one situation and I thought was going to nick the ball but he didn't and he would have been through on goal so I suppose rightly the referee sent him off.
"I didn't notice the foul in the build up to their goal and I wouldn't have expected the referee to have seen it either. He wasn't the worst ref we've seen this season but he's certainly not the best either. He gave lots of free kicks during the game both in the first half and the second that left both benches bemused.
"It's just frustrating because we've got to the ninetieth minute without conceding and without playing particularly well and I was thinking just entering stoppage time are we going to end up with a point and we've just been caught.
"The guy's actually shanked his attempt really and someone has gambled at the back stick and managed to stick a leg out and it's gone into the top corner. But that apart if we'd have got a pint it would have been a hard earned point. I don't think we did enough to get three.
"I thought we defended quite well but when we had the ball we were well, well off the pace.
"That's two games where we've failed to score and lost one-nil but pleasingly we don't look like being opened up as much as we were earlier on in the season but we've got to be working a lot harder, we've got to be getting the game by the scruff of the neck.
"There were too many players hiding today and I was very disappointed with all of our midfield because they've set the standard in recent performances in games but today didn't get going for us."
