East Midlands Counties League
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 8th May 2010, 3.00pm
Gresley Finish With A Draw
A double strike from David Blenkinsopp was not enough for a win to end Gresley's first season in the East Midlands Counties League at the Moat Ground.
Hinckley Downes started the better of the two sides in a blustery wind forcing two early corners but it was the Moatmen who had the first chance on 7 minutes.
A terrific cross from Tom Betteridge was headed goalwards by Brian Woodall but visiting keeper Wayne Connolly did very well to punch the ball away off the goal line. Connolly did well seconds later when a decent shot from Carl Slater took a deflection off Blenkinsopp and had the keeper scrambling the ball away for a corner.
However, it was Downes who took the lead on 24 minutes. A free kick from Adam Smith was met by Tom Hodson but Gresley keeper Simon Baldwin did well to parry the header but Sam Taylor reacted quickly to tap the ball home from close in.
The lead lasted just one minute as a flowing move down the left ripped the Downes defence wide open. Betteridge made a great run down the left and picked out Blenkinsopp in the box and the prolific striker needed a couple of touches before slotting the ball home.
Gresley almost went ahead a couple of minutes later when a Gresley free kick was almost steered into his own net by Jarrod Pickering.
Just after the half hour Baldwin needed to be on his toes as Downes pressed forward and ended with a vicious volley that the keeper did well to parry.
On 35 minutes Gresley took the lead when Richard Butler's pinpoint cross was headed home by Blenkinsopp and the home side almost added another goal with a couple of minutes remaining in the half when Betteridge give up on a ball that looked certain to go out for a goal kick but his determination won him the ball and was unlucky to fire his shot into the side netting.
The second half opened with Rob Spencer producing a good save from Connolly pushing away the low shot and eight minutes later Connolly again denied Gresley a goal as he blocked Betteridge's shot from Slater's cross field pass at the near post.
A slip from Mickey Lyons allowed Taylor to turn on the edge of the area and to rifle home a low shot to level the scores on 64 minutes.
Things could have been worse for the home side when Downes had two decent chances in the space of two minutes. The first when Pickering was given far too much time to try and lob Baldwin but the attempt went over the bar and then some indecisive allowed Danny Newton to nip in to steal the ball but again the finishing was wayward and the shot hit the side netting.
The best move of the game deserved a better ending when Slater, Woodall and Blenkinsopp combined down the right but Slater's shot was just too close to the keeper who held onto the shot.
As the game drifted away towards the finish Gresley had another couple of chances to steal a late winner. A glorious shot from Woodall was cleared off the line and Jack Coulson's volley from Matt Hill's free kick was superbly tipped over the bar by Connolly.
At the end of the game Gresley were presented with the East Midlands Counties League Runners-up trophy by league officials.
Manager's View
Martin Rowe
"It was one of those days today after last week's game when we knew we'd got the runners-up spot. We tried to put on a bit of a display but it was a bobbly pitch and windy conditions and we really never got going at all.
"We've just about spoken to all the squad and I think we've just got four players to speak to now and every one of them has signed up as everybody is keen to get this club back up there where it should be.
"I've only heard rumours as to what league we'll be in next season. I've heard that Dunkirk's facilities may not be good enough but it's only a rumour but if it's so the ruling is it goes to the next club down which is us. Obviously ours are good enough and we would get promoted and if that's so then we're not going to turn it down we'd take it with open arms.
"We can't officially talk to other players until our season has finished which is today but maybe we've spoken to a few but it's definitely nobody from Borrowash Victoria - definitely not!
"I don't think anyone was on top of their game this afternoon. I thought Simon Baldwin did well in goal and I thought the one handed save when the ball was deflected off Jack Coulson was absolutely brilliant. Since Gary Hateley came to the club Simon hasn't had many opportunities but he's showed in the last two games especially at home how much he has improved and I hope he continues to improve because we need to put pressure on Gary Hateley.
"This season personally I think we should have done a lot better with the players we've got at the club but I think a lot of the teams we've played this year have raised their games to another level. I saw a lot of games in this league the season before and I've seen a big improvement and I think maybe that's because we have dropped down because everybody knows they've got to raise their game to beat us and maybe our senior players haven't performed to their true potential.
"I don't think we will lose our senior players for next season but we only want players here who want to play for Gresley and if senior players don't want to stay at Gresley me and Gary Norton are happy to let them go. They've got to want to play for Gresley.
"I don't think the prospect of playing in a higher league for Gresley will make any difference. Talking to the players they are all happy and they all definitely know what our targets are nest season - promotion. We've just not been consistent and we've made too many mistakes and we've been punished for it.
"I think the FA Vase took our focus off the league which it's bound to because it's such a big competition and the further you go on you get the media and the hype around Gresley and it gets higher and higher and we went off and it's mine and Gary's fault because we should have maybe been a bit more focused and rested players and brought other players into our league games."
