East Midlands Counties League
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 22nd August 2009, 3.00pm
Miners Dig Deep To Win At The Moat
Seven goals but this was no thriller as unfortunately Gresley's defensive frailties were clearly on show at the Moat Ground.
After taking a 26th minute lead through Jamie Barrett some periods of careless defending allowed the visitors to not only get back into the game but to take control for large periods.
Holbrook having finished a creditable 3rd in the league last season soon showed that they were going to provide tough opposition for a Gresley side still trying to find their feet at this level.
However it was Gresley who showed the first promise when new loan signing Reiss Morley made a good run down the left but finished firing wide of the far post.
Gresley keeper Simon Baldwin needed to be on his toes making a fine block as Karl Demidh threatened at the other end.
Demidh should have taken the lead on 12 minutes when he picked out at the far post but somehow missed a golden chance.
A minute later Baldwin made another great save tipping a header onto the ball from his own team mate Barrett who was trying to clear the danger.
Holbrook were looking far more dangerous going forward causing the Gresley backline problems and a corner by David Moon eventually found Marcus Thorp who fire wide.
On 18 minutes Mickey Lyons picked out Tom Betteridge wide on the left and it took a fine block from keeper Damien Clark who had closed the danger down quickly.
Holbrook went close on 25 minutes when Mark Finlay beat Baldwin to a high ball in the box from former Moatman Neil Broadhurst but the header cleared the bar.
However, a minute later the home side were ahead somewhat against the run of play when Brian Woodall found Barrett with a pass that the midfielder slotted home.
Gresley should have had a penalty when a clear hand ball in the area by a Brookies defender was ignored by the referee Mr Tinsley and they broke down to the other end and levelled.
A badly timed tackle by Nathan Morris sliced down David Hind in the area and the referee had no alternative but to point to the spot where Gavin Whitehead beat Baldwin sending the keeper the wrong way.
Three minutes later the Brookies should have taken the lead but Demidh somehow put his free header from Moon's cross wide.
Still Holbrook pressed and from Moon's corner Thom Kellog's thunderous header cannoned back off the bar but right on the halftime whistle they got the goal they deserved but again it was a case of some very poor defending from the home side. A cross slung into the box from the right found Demidh in acres of space and this time he didn't miss putting his header past a static Baldwin.
Within 2 minutes of the second half Woodall rattled the Holbrook bar and minutes later Gresley were once more on terms.
Morley had made a good run into the area where Kellog pulled him back giving away a penalty and getting a yellow card for his trouble. Woodall chose to take the kick slamming the ball past Clark.
Morley almost added another two minutes later but Clark somehow managed to get a hand to the striker's shot as a goal looked certain.
Morley was once more unlucky this time beaten by an upright when Oliver Hancock's good run down the right had provided the chance.
Holbrook were back in the lead on 59 minutes. Gresley conceded a needless free kick just outside the area and Finlay's low shot left Baldwin a mere spectator as the ball flew into the far bottom corner.
Once more Gresley came back to level when Gareth Langford's cross was lashed home at the far post by Woodall.
Both keepers were then kept busy for a while keeping chances out at either end but Holbrook should have been reduced to ten men on 79 minutes when an awful tackle by Demidh felled Tom Betteridge on the right touch line. Amazingly the referee saw nothing wrong in a tackle that could easily have put Betteridge out of action for weeks.
One decision that the referee couldn't ignore came on 82 minutes. Gresley substitute Stefan Marshall was put through but as he rounded the keeper Clark grabbed the player's legs and brought him down.
The referee only awarded a yellow card which could have warranted a card of a different colour with a different official.
Woodall stepped up to take the spot kick hoping to complete his hat trick but fire wide to keep the scores level.
Gresley were to rue that miss as a minute later Holbrook scored what proved to be the winner. The home side had got into a good position deep into the visitor's half but somehow conspired to lose the ball and as the Brookies broke quickly Gresley, who had committed players forward looking for a winner themselves, were caught very thin at the back and Moon was picked out wide on the left and he ran forward unchallenged to slip the ball past the helpless Baldwin.
On balance of play a draw would have been the right result as neither side deserved to win the game but Gresley's defence frailties meant that they were always chasing the game after the first 20 minutes or so.
Manager's View
"To say I'm disappointed is an understatement not necessarily losing the game because Holbrook played very well. We rode our luck at times in the first half we you're not going to win matches no matter who you are playing against if you defend; or rather not defend as we have done this afternoon.
"We scored three, missed a penalty and hit the woodwork twice and we've lost the game. The simple fact is you cannot defend like we've done this afternoon.
"We've brought Nathan (Morris) to help us out for a couple of games - experienced defender who has dropped down two leagues and he's had a shocker by his own admission - he knows that and the fact that we ended with Tom Betteridge in the back three will point towards that.
"In all fairness if I'd have had a three headed coin it would have been a toss up as to who was coming off. Chris Mawbey has got an ankle knock so he's come off.
"Going forward at times you could see that we've got some good technical players but we weren't quite ruthless enough and we were wasteful at times particularly in the final ball but we aint going to do anything in this league if we defend like that and we are going to address the situation straight away.
"At half time we were lucky still to be in contention they had some very good chances. They've got a very good side. I've only just met Kev (Bunting) today. He's a tough character and has got his side playing for him and difference was they had eleven players out there who wanted to beat Gresley FC and I can't say we had the same at times and we have to address that.
"We knew it was coming, that sides would raise the game here (at The Moat) and we've still got a lot to learn at this level and we've got to be more organised and more solid defensively because for all our attacking players we have in the side we've got to get a foundation of defensive stability.
"The new lad Reise Morley did all right, he showed some nice touches. Obviously, our problem is up at the other end of the pitch in terms of getting fit players. At the moment it looks like we haven't got enough fingers between us to plug the problems that we've got.
"We've been trying all week, for the last two or three weeks, to get somebody in at the back. We really don't want Jamie (Barrett) playing in there and I think when Jamie went back in there it made us a little bit more solid.
"But, having got back on level terms, we are on the attack and one of our players held onto the ball too long instead of releasing it. We've got five or six in an advanced position and we've got caught on the break and we never recovered and we conceded a sloppy goal.
"It's frustrating, obviously Strez (Mark Strezewski) didn't sign for us and we've been working on trying to bring someone in of quality in ever since and I think we'll have to step that search up now I think.
"We are hoping that Rob Spencer can start training towards the end of next week. It's difficult with a broken toe, difficult to know when. Royce (Turville) has been in for treatment today as has Andy Elliott and Jordi Gough and obviously we hope to get one or two of those back sooner rather than later just to give us a bit of a nudge in the right area but they are all advanced players and our concern at the moment is at the back.
"We may not necessarily play Jordi at the back. We've got a good left back in Adam Betteridge and we changed system today to accommodate but good players should be able to switch systems and the three at the back today were just nowhere near the players.
"For their second goal the ball has been played out wide and we've had two players watch it. I could see from the bench the movement of their forwards pulling out to the back stick. We've got two centre halves ball watching.
"That's the problem at the moment. I don't think Jordi, on his own, bless him, will plug that. We've got a problem central defensively. Everywhere else on the pitch it appears we've got more than enough talent but central defensively we can't defend. We have good players in there who have proved at UniBond level they can do a job but they are proving they can't do it at this level.
"On paper we've got a stronger side than that that finished last season but we've got a soft under belly defensively. I've got no problem with us scoring goals. We misfired midweek, I thought we played some decent stuff at times but we are never going to have a problem scoring goals I think but we're going to have a problem keeping them out it looks like so we need to get to the problem of that because no way we are going to go through that again."
