UniBond League Division One South
Bill Stokeld Stadium, Carlton
Saturday, 20th September 2008, 3.00pm
Early Goals Defeat Rovers
Two early goals were the downfall for Gresley Rovers at the Bill Stokeld Stadium Carlton.
In front of a very sparse crowd Carlton took the lead with just three minutes on the clock when Dean Gent turned Dan Douglas after the defender had chested the ball into Gent's path who then raced forward to slot the ball past keeper Simon Baldwin.
Things got worse for the visitors six minutes later. A needless free kick from the left was fired low into the box by Martin Ball and Rovers defender Sam Wilson tried to clear the danger but the ball flew off his shin and into the net.
Rovers settled and went close to getting a goal back on 11 minutes when Carl Slater's shot was parried by Alessandro Barcherini who also managed to block David Blenkinsopp's follow up.
Blenkinsopp went close minutes later putting a header just over the bar, as did Jamie Barrett from Robbie Banks' corner.
It appeared that the home side had decided to sit back on their lead and try to soak up the pressure as Rovers continued to press forward looking for the goal to get them back into the game.
Just on the half hour mark a long kick from Baldwin was flicked on by Kevin Lock to Wilson who unfortunately put his shot wide.
Manager Gary Norton decided to make a change bringing on Jamie Hood as a replacement for Douglas and the visitors continued to press forward.
Blenkinsopp almost got his side a goal after beating Fabian Smith but his shot was comfortably saved by Barcherini.
Rovers started the second period well and should have been awarded a free kick when Blenkinsopp raced onto a through ball from Jamie Barrett only to be brought down by Carlton defender Grant Brindley in the area. Amazingly referee waved away the appeals.
On 50 minutes Wilson cracked a long-range dipping shot that Barcherini did well to tip over and from the resultant corner Miles Chamberlain was unlucky to see his headed sail just over the bar.
With Rovers going for a goal they were always vulnerable to the quick break and it took an absolutely superb tackle from Barrett to prevent Gent from slotting in the third goal. A long throw from Hood found Kevin Lock but his effort was over the bar.
On 58 minutes a post came to Rovers' rescue when Marquin Smith smacked the woodwork and Aidan Brady somehow managed to fire the rebound over the gaping net.
Four minutes later a corner from the left by Mickey Lyons picked out Barrett at the near post who lifted the ball over to the far post but a fraction too high for the waiting Lock.
On 63 minutes Baldwin made a top drawer save pushing a long-range drive from Gent past his far post.
Ten minutes later Carlton substitute Phil Bignall went very close after seeing Baldwin off his line he tried an audacious lob that landed on the roof of the net.
Baldwin was in action again minutes later blocking both a shot from Stephen Akers and the rebound from Marquin Smith. However, the ball was not cleared and Chamberlain had to clear Darryl Francis' header off the line.
Rovers were denied another penalty with minutes remaining when referee saw nothing wrong with a crude barge by Brindley on Jordi Gough in the area.
The visitors went close to reducing the arrears late on when substitute Brian Woodall forced a smart save from Barcherini at his near post.
Manager's View
"Individual errors cost us again this afternoon. It's getting like a broken record isn't it? We give ourselves mountains to climb and take the first ten minutes out of the game and we'd be more than happy with that performance away from home against a very good side.
"Yes, individual errors - we got caught with a route one ball that Dan (Douglas) got underneath and they punished us for that and just when we're looking for a bit of composure to keep a foothold in the game we get sloppy down that side again and concede an own goal.
"We were looking around for a reaction and it was a positive reaction for the remainder of the first half and we stabilised ourselves.
"You couldn't argue with that performance to be honest and it's hard to stand here having lost your fourth game on the trot and really take issue with the team going forward. The only thing lacking was a bit of quality in the final third. The final cross or final pass gambling in the box and we penned Carlton back particularly in the second half.
"The referee said at the end "if you could have started before ten minutes you'd have had a chance of winning the game today."
"It's little consolation stood here talking on the back of a defeat but there were many positives and again at the risk of sounding like a broken record we didn't get a lot today but we've just got to keep plugging away.
"I took Dan Douglas off because I wanted something different. I watched these guys (Carlton) midweek and I knew what an outlet their number eleven Aidan Brady was and I wanted a little more pace out there. It was just a tactical switch.
"People might look at it and think we blamed Dan for the first goal. He did start a little bit slow, he did start a little bit sloppy but the substitution was purely to get some pace out there. Jamie (Hood) can get across quicker in the system we employed today.
"It was not personal. At the end of the day you have a squad of players who have different attributes and different positives and you have to be willing to use that whether it's after thirty minutes gone or three minutes gone.
"If we need to make a tactical change after going two-nil down we'll make it. We did today and Jamie (Hood) came on and had a very good game.
"Kev Lock started today and difficult to say if it worked. Kev put a decent shift in and he certainly gave David Blenkinsopp a little more help up there. He did okay, we were a little frustrated with one of the things he did. He's new to this level and what he's done coming off the bench has warranted an opportunity today for him and he's done okay without really setting the world alight.
"He's lost a tooth for the cause as well. He put his head in where it hurts and had a tooth knocked out but he hasn't done bad today. He's not had the impact we would have hoped i.e. a goal or laying on a chance for one of his team mates but you can't really argue with that today, he's put a decent shift in for us. I don't think it really happened for anyone today.
"Having said that our midfield three were magnificent in the second half. They won all the first balls they won all the second. Mickey Lyons and Carl Slater for me were outstanding. Jamie Barrett some of the tracking back work he was doing. We were leaving the back door open we were going for it we were trying to get the ball forward trying to pick the bits up.
"A team like Carlton are good going forward and they'll hit you on the break. Young Simon Baldwin deserves some credit for keeping us in it with a fine save from when we had an opportunity to get a shot off from the edge of the box. There was a little bit of naivety nobody's called nobody's actually took the shot and they caught us on the break and Simon's kept us in the game. I need time to reflect on that performance and see where we go from here.
"I think everybody's frustrated at the moment. You can see what qualities Mickey Lyon's got and give to the side and at times today and at times during the last couple of games he hasn't quite got the ball going or got his passing going or his movement going as perhaps before he went away.
"It's not just Mickey. Carl Slater who wears his heart on his sleeve is so disappointed today and collectively you can see that disappointment across lads and that's a good thing, you can see they care.
"The effort they put in after going two down you can't argue with that and you take some solace and encouragement out of that but at the end of the day that solace and encouragement due not put any points on the board and that's what we need.
"We have a game on Tuesday and we take every game and treat it with the respect it deserves whether it be a league game or a cup game on Tuesday night I just want to have football matches and so do the team so we'll continue and we will not make any special concessions as it's a cup game we'll continue to prepare. At the end of the day it's a team from our league and we'll try and win the game. Whether Leek do that remains to be seen but we will try and build on some encouraging spells in our last two games that unfortunately hasn't brought us any points.
"I thought we played better today in prolonged spells than we did against Kidsgrove. A ninety third minute winner at Kidsgrove we watched a dvd of that and there's lots of disappointing things to come from it but things that we can take away and make positive because we can explain to the lads where they are going wrong.
"Unfortunately we've not had the opportunity to have today's game video'd but we'll be doing that more in the future to try and build on it and look were we go wrong.
"Olly Hancock I'm sure about. He's got this groin problem that forced him off against Kidsgrove so I need to talk to Sam (Macgregor) our physio about that. Olly was here to tady and had some treatment before the game and some very light work and I spoke to him yesterday and there was no way he could even be considered for the bench.
"Young Livo (Tom Liversage) just needs ninety minutes and hopefully he's got that under his belt today with the reserves and he may well need a little bit more because he's not had much football in the last month or so. But there are a few people ahead of him at the moment. Tom's not happy about that but at the moment he's being professional about it and we'll speak at training on Thursday about his situation personally and look where his future lies in the next few weeks.
"As to Nicky Scaife and Stuart Copnell and their futures at the club well Nicky's situation is quite simple. I wasn't happy with his preparation before the Chasetown game having learned that he prepared for it with two hours sleep.
"He's a lovely lad and he's a top draw lad who wears his heart on his sleeve but he's working away up North and on Friday night he was working until 4am in the morning, gets a couple of hours kip and up again at 6am. It became apparent to me and it was too late to make a change for the game and having said that I've assessed him over his previous performances he's done well and we've won games. There have been concerns. I've spoken to him about his inconsistency of his kicking that's caused us some problems and also for some reason he looks a little bit nervous on crosses so we spoke to him about that.
"I watched him three times last year and his kicking was superb and his handling at crosses was good but the hours he's putting in travelling on the motorway from the North East isn't doing him any good or us and it's told in his performances. So we've taken a bold decision to take a step back. I think he's gone away and he'll be calling me when he gets back. His contract in the North East ends in mid October and we'll assess the situation then. Having said that it has given an opportunity to Simon Baldwin and he's played very well in his last two games. He's handled well, he's kicked well and he's not been at fault for any of the goals.
"With regards to Stewart Copnell we decided not to involve him on Wednesday. We've got some concerns about his disciplinary problems. I've watched Stewart lots of times and he's a quality player but having worked with him for a week or so I got a few concerns that I shared with him at the end of the game last week and I said to him that during his nine game suspension he's got to think about how he conducts himself and if he wants to be a part of Gresley in the future then he's got to fit in the way we want our players to behave around the club so time will tell on that one so that's not dead in the water but that's down to Stewart."
