East Midlands Counties League
Crompston Road, Anstey
Tuesday, 2nd March 2010, 7.45pm
Gresley Hit Nomads For Six
A combination of woodwork, goalkeeping and abject officiating denied Gresley from hitting well into double figures in this fairly one-sided affair.
Gresley found themselves four goals up at the break through Brian Woodall, Royce Turville (2) and Martin Gadsby with Turville and Mickey Lyons completing the scoring in the second half.
In front of yet another tremendous travelling support Gresley were soon putting their hosts under pressure with Turville getting on the end of a great ball but smashing his volley against the post after 12 minutes.
Gresley did open the scoring just 6 minutes later when Tom Betteridge made an excellent run down the left before firing in a low cross into the box. Turville was inches away from connecting but Woodall was waiting to pounce at the far post and obligingly slotted the ball home for his team's one hundredth goal in all competitions.
The home keeper Daniel Allinson then made one of many blocks to deny Lyons on 19 minutes before the woodwork once more denied the goal Gresley deserved when Woodall crashed his shot at the base of the far post and the ball flew straight into the keeper's arms with three opposition players waiting for the rebound.
Gresley should then have had a penalty when a shot was handled in the area by a defender but unbelievably both the referee Mr Bullin and assistant ignored the appeals.
Allinson once more denied Woodall with a save before the woodwork was hit again this time by Carl Slater whose low shot looked certain to end uo at the back of the net.
It was just after the half hour when the visitors scored their second goal. Woodall put in an inch perfect cross form the right for Turville to powerfully head home.
Two minutes later incredibly for the fourth time in 22 minutes the woodwork was struck again with Gareth Langford being denied this time but Gadsby was quick to follow up ramming the rebound home.
Allinson again was responsible for keeping the score down making a great save from Woodall. Gresley then forced five corners and from one of them Matt Hill's cheeky back heel needed to be cleared off the line.
On 43 minutes Nomads made a very rare venture forward into the Gresley half and forced a corner which unfortunately came to nothing.
In time added on in the first half Gresley added to their tally when Turville collected the ball just inside the area with his back to goal and managed to turn and slot the ball past the onrushing Allinson.
The second half began as the first had ended with Gresley clearly on top and Anstey having to defend with nine men behind the ball.
Slater tested his range with a shot that flew wide and again minutes later firing a shot over the bar from a similar position
On 51 minutes Lyons flicked a ball over the Nomads back line to Jamie Barrett but once more Allinson made a block and Slater fired the rebound over the bar.
Gadsby then went close curling a shot that flew the wrong side of the far post but seconds later the goal that looked inevitable came. Richard Butler made a burst into the area and was brought down and the referee pointed to the spot. Turville completed his hat trick smashing the penalty kick powerfully into the roof of the net.
Woodall, who on another day could easily had six or seven goals, was yet again denied by Allinson before Gadsby fired just wide.
Nomads had been encamped in their own half for much of the game but on 74 minutes they almost got on the score sheet themselves. A quick break saw the ball played forward to their skipper Matthew Orme who controlled the ball on his chest before turning and firing a stinging shot that Gresley keeper Simon Baldwin, largely unemployed for most of the game, did well to tip over the bar.
It was a false dawn for the home side as the relentless pressure once more forced the Nomads into defensive mode as wave upon wave of Gresley attacks pressed them back.
On 77 minutes the clearest of penalty shouts was incredibly turned down by the referee. Woodall had got the better of his marker and was running into the area when he was hacked down from behind a couple of yards in but once more poor officiating was evident as the strong appeals were waved away.
Nomads' goal was under siege for the final ten minutes with Slater firing wide and Allinson denying Woodall, Turville and Slater with blocks in quick succession.
However, the keeper was beaten once more on 88 minutes when Betteridge who'd swopped wings with Woodall made a great run down the right and fired in a low cross that Lyons slammed home from close in.
Manager's View
"It's great to get back in winning ways. Credit to Anstey who kept going for ninety minutes and we knew they would. It's a lovely club, nice people and a cracking set of lads.
"I'm a little disappointed that we didn't really drive it home without sounding too over the top but to win six and keep a clean sheet at their place is really good for us.
"It's hard to judge but in the first half we must have had seventy percent of the possession and worked it very well but in the second half some people might be disappointed that we only got the two goals but the pitch cut up very badly. We said it would at the start of the game.
"We were a little bit wasteful and they a little fortuitously with I wouldn't say saves but the ball hitting the keeper. I think we hit the woodwork four times in the first half - three posts and the crossbar which was frustrating.
"It's been a good workout for the lads and it's gone some way to help get Saturday out the system. I think a few of us had a couple of sleepless nights but that's behind us now and we're back to winning ways which was important most of all.
"The lads were great. We've had to make a couple of changes tonight. Martin Gadsby has come in; Chris Gray is suspended from Saturday. Shepshed had a game tonight and another game on Saturday which clears Chris's suspension and Tom Land has had a bit longer on the pitch tonight which was good. Obviously it's hard to see where he fits in, in terms of playing that level of opposition without being disrespectful but he looks useful, he's keen as well and has played at this level for a number of years but if he's anything like his Dad he'll be a useful acquisition for us in time.
"Jamie Barrett had a very tight hamstring and given the situation the game was in and the rapidly decreasing quality of the pitch - very heavy - we felt give Tom an opportunity which he deserves really. We've got some ice on Jamie's hamstring but it's not a concern.
"It sounds stupid when you've won a game in the manner we did but there were some decisions the referee blatantly got wrong. My concern was and I had a word with him at the end that it could have been a tight game and those big decisions matter in games. Yes, you are going to get one or two wrong in a game but there were several big ones almost to the point of embarrassment.
"it's not like the East Midlands Counties League is governed by the Premier League or FiFa or anyone like that so I'm not going to get pulled up for my comments so I let him know my opinion that we could have been in a tight game. Referees get things wrong and I wouldn't do their job, they do a great job. I'm not being disrespectful to him but there were too many blatant decisions that he got horribly wrong tonight and it was embarrassing at times.
"To get Mickey Lyons booked, the guy's come in quite heavily and he was off the floor but I don't think there was any intent there but it was a heavy tackle above knee height and Mick's very angrily said 'look I've got to go to work in the morning!' There was no intent from the guy but I asked the referee at half time and he's booked Mickey for being a bit frustrated and having a bit of aggression at the tackle and he (the referee) admitted that he didn't see the guy who did it which was nice of him to admit but alarm bells should have been ringing at half time when he said that really.
"It's a shame because it took the shine off a decent game with a decent team we were playing against but my argument is that it could have been a very tight game and he's going to have to get closer decisions and his linesmen can help him out because that's what they're there for.
"It's good to bounce back after the Holbrook game especially which was one of those things. We've had a difficult couple of weeks. The Holbrook result isn't one we wanted and we didn't get going and the disappointment is still quite raw for us all.
"We've got sixteen cup finals now. I keep saying that to the lads that we've still got a big shout in this league. Out of ourselves, probably Dunkirk and Bardon who are at the moment favourites with so many games left to go we are probably third favourites in that we've got so many games to play and we've got to rely on Dunkirk dropping points and Bardon have points in the bag which in some debates is sometimes the best position to be in.
"So, regardless of how things end up the final two months are going to be very exciting and it's been a while since we could say that. We are still in the mix and I don't think many of our opposing teams would have expected us to have slipped up tonight but there are some tricky games coming up none more so than Saturday, Borrowash Vics. Mark Wilson's a very good manager; he always gets his team playing for him and gets them working very hard and high commitment levels.
"We saw in the Derbyshire Cup when we got a fortuitous goal I think it was the first goal to break them down originally and then we ended up winning two nil and it's not going to be easy on Saturday. Then we have a difficult trip away next Tuesday at St Andrews so there is a long, long way to go."
