East Midlands Counties League
Welby Road, Melton Mowbray
Saturday, 7th November 2009, 3.00pm
Lyons Last Gasp Goal Grabs A Point
The tremendous travelling Gresley supporters must pull their hair out on the way home as their side come up short compared to their home performances.
In normal circumstances a point away from home can be seen as a decent result but when you have a two goal lead and look comfortable it's disappointing to see the lead fritter away and what makes it worse by opposition goals that were all gifts by the Gresley defence.
Gresley made a good start and took the lead after just six minutes when Martin Gadsby made a good run through the middle before lifting a shot over home keeper Richard Cragg who looked to have tipped the attempt over the bar but instead he tipped the ball back into the net. Gadsby could have added to his tally but headed Richard Butler's free kick wide at the far post.
Gresley did make it two on 36 minutes. Jordi Gough ran down the left before firing a shot that Cragg could only parry. The ball eventually arrived to Brian Woodall who fired a low shot through a crowded area and past the keeper.
On 41 minutes a third goal looked odds on when Royce Turville was put through on goal only for Cragg, racing off his line, to make a good block with his legs.
Gresley were to rue that miss as a minute later Holwell were gifted a goal. The normally secure Mark Blount instead of booting the ball out of the ground inexplicably put a poor pass to his right into the path of Ian Bitmead who coolly slotted the ball past keeper Gary Hateley.
The first period of the second half was scrappy with both sides finding the uneven surface a challenge but on 59 minutes Gresley handed the home side yet another goal. Hateley came out for a ball that was only just in his range and this resulted in a poor punch that only cleared his area but on to the head of Niall Prenderville who nodded the ball over the stranded keeper and into the unguarded net.
Sports seemed to have the better of a pretty even twenty minutes with neither side carving out any clear-cut chances.
However, Gresley went inches from taking the lead again when Blount rose the highest to power his header against the bar from Gough's corner.
Poor defending in the 84th minute saw the home side take the lead. A shot seemed to be heading well wide of the target but a deflection slowed the ball's progress and as Hateley tried to grab the ball on the bye line a Sports player got there first and put it back into the box where Russ Pitman was on hand to slot the ball into the empty net prompting joyous celebrations.
Gresley were denied a clear cut penalty on 89 minutes when substitute Rob Spencer rounded the keeper only for Cragg to trip the player as he looked certain to slot the ball home.
Referee Mr Davies infuriated players, management and supporters by ignoring the appeal and in a dreadful piece of officiating rubbed salt into the wounds by booking Spencer for diving.
However, Gresley had the last laugh when a scramble in the box in time added on ended with substitute Mickey Lyons poking the ball home for a deserved share of the points.
Manager's View
"This was a disappointing result. We were cruising at two-nil up after thirty six minutes although we didn't play well in that time.
"We've drilled it into the lads that this is not the first time that we've thrown a two-nil lead away. It's a very precarious score line even at the top level, a very dodgy score line.
"We gifted them a chance in the game because before that they weren't a threat at all. Even experienced players make mistakes. Mark (Blount) made a mistake for their first goal and that completely changed the team talk for both sides.
"They get a goal like that and all of a sudden they've got nothing to lose at two-one. We were talking about not making mistakes and concentrating and dealing with things, the pressure they were going to throw at us and we didn't and they got back in the game.
"Another experienced player Gary Hateley, who has been brilliant since he's been in. Obviously he's not too happy in the dressing room. He should have come and commandingly punched it but he hasn't quite got it as clean as he hoped, whether he was impinged or not I don't know, but all of a sudden it's a totally different game and it's a scrap. There are many more of those scraps ahead because sides want to beat us and if we goals away like that - that is our big concern and that is why we are trying to do work to tighten things up.
"We gifted two goals away again today and they scored a third. Deep in injury time you think the run is over and we've dropped three sloppy points but we managed to peg one back at the end through character.
"You have to praise the lads for that character but we didn't get going today. It was an awful pitch a bobbly pitch which was a leveller. We didn't play our football today but that's how it's going to be away from home particularly in the winter months
"You thought today wasn't the sort of game for Mickey Lyons but he's gone on and pulled a few strings and popped up at the end for us.
"Yes, we are bitterly disappointed but take nothing away from Holwell. They battled for ninety minutes. But you look at the away game at Blackwell when we battered them and came away with an injury time point. We battered Gedling Miners Welfare and come away with nothing having lost the game against ten men.
"We haven't battered them today. We've been matched for passion, it was a bobbly pitch and we couldn't get it down and we were lucky to get away with a pint perhaps.
"We've got to get used to the celebrations they did when they scored. Sides want to beat us and it maybe a silly phrase, but it is like winning the World Cup. Look at Blackwell when we'd equalised deep in injury time and when the final whistle went Blackwell were all mobbing each other but we've got to get used to that. Sides want to beat Gresley and there are a few other sides who are also doing very well in the league and I'm sure they will get the same reaction if they manage to beat them.
"That's not why we chucked points away today. We had key players off their game today. There are two or three on that field who we were disappointed with and we'll take steps to try and address that. There were a couple of very poor performances out there and we haven't been able to say that too many times so far this year.
"We'll keep going and we'll train this week and there is a big game coming up and we need to make no mistakes on Saturday.
"There is a difference in our home and away form but happens a lot in football. We've got a nice pitch at the Moat Ground and we get the ball down and we work it well. We've been playing good football away from home but home advantage is an advantage from our point of view.
"We said at Gedling the last game away from home that you have to grind out results. On another day this may have been a good result but today looking at the league positions people would have expected us to come away and take three points but we've got divine right, neither has Heanor , Bardon, Dunkirk, Borrowash all the sides, Geenwood too many to mention, Gedling miners Welfare - we've got no divine right to come to places and win games you have to earn it and we've not quite been at it today and credit to Holwell for the battling performance they've put in to get a point and it could have been a lot worse for us.
"Both James Davies and Gareth Langford played for the reserves today. Matt Weightman could get off work in time to make either our game or the reserve game. Matt's a fit lad so perhaps he didn't need the reserves game. I was disappointed for Matt because he's worked hard to get into the side and he's frustrated that he couldn't get off work today.
"Rob Spencer hasn't played for three weeks but coming off the bench today he did okay. Chris Gray up front was a good option for us. Royce (Turville) came off with a bit of a groin problem which he picked up when he went through and could have made it three nil and it could have been a different story if that had gone in.
"Martin Gadsby who got the first goal for us rather fortuitously has had a collision and got a bit of a dead leg so he had to come off injured as well but we've got plenty of options for next week against Ollerton. We've got a healthy squad at the moment and long may that continue.
