East Midlands Counties League
Greene King Stadium, Hinckley
Tuesday, 22nd March 2011, 7.45pm
Injury Time Agony For Gresley
Hinckley can count themselves very fortunate to have taken a share of the points because if Gresley had taken all of their first half gilt edged chances they would have been at least four or five goals to the good by half time.
A superbly struck free kick by Brian Woodall seven minutes before the break looked to have won the game for the visitors but Dan Eden managed to head home a corner deep into added time to dent Gresley's title hopes.
Gresley made one change from Saturday with Danny Holmes replacing Gareth Langford and on the Greene King Stadium's big flat pitch hey had the better of the first half and should have put the game beyond their hosts within the first forty five minutes.
Carl Slater was first to test home keeper Elliott Shilliam after just three minutes but his low shot was well held. Woodall planted a header wide before beating the offside trap and racing in on goal but his shot was blocked by the legs of Shilliam with the rebound being fired over the bar by Tom Betteridge rather than in the back of the gaping unguarded net.
On 27 minutes Gresley had another chance to open the scoring as Rob Spencer this time beat the offside trap only to have the ball taken off his toes by the onrushing Shilliam. Spencer had another chance minutes later when some poor defending between keeper and defender allowed the forward to nip in and rob the ball only to smash it into the side netting.
Somewhat against the run of play Hinckley got the chance to open the scoring themselves. On 35 minutes a long ball down the left saw Jermain Gordon get past Lee Barrows before racing into the area where keeper Darren Keeling diving at the big strikers feet was harshly adjudged to have brought him down with Gordon adding a theatrical dive to ensure he got the decision.
Keeling was shown a yellow card but redeemed himself by diving full length to his left to hold on to the resultant spot kick.
Three minutes later Gresley took the lead when Woodall struck a superb free kick from just outside the area curling the ball into the net by the near post with Shilliam rooted to the spot.
Hinckley came out looking a lot brighter in the second period and could have levelled the proceeding within a minute of the re-start but for Jordi Gough clearing Gordon's header off the line with Keeling beaten.
Slater then tried a long-range shot that dipped just clear of the bar and then Mickey Lyons made a good run down the right and sent a low cross into the box that eluded the outstretched leg of Spencer by a hair breadth.
On the hour Hinckley went close again when a corner found a home player at the far post but Jamie Barrett made a tremendous block to deny a goal scoring chance.
Another low shot was pinged in by Slater which flew just wide before the action moved to the other end of the pitch where Michael Reeves ended a good run down the right with a shot that fizzed past the near post.
Gresley were unlucky not to have doubled their advantage when Spencer met Woodall's cross from the left only to see his header crash back off the bar.
A few minutes later a bizarre piece of refereeing by Mr Allen seemed to puzzle players and spectators alike. Spencer had tackled Eden and probably deserved the yellow card but the two handed retaliation into Spencer's face was not even considered as justifying a caution let alone the normal red card for raising of the hands!
Woodall had a half chance on 79 minutes when he met Tom Betteridge's cross from the left but his header went straight into Shilliam's midriff.
Just as it looked as if Gresley had done enough to have taken all three points, deep into injury time a corner by Jon Stevenson from the right was headed home by Eden who arguably shouldn't have even been on the pitch causing cup final winning celebrations from the home side.
Manager's View
Martin Rowe
"I thought we came here tonight and really played well in the first half when we should have been three-one up at half time. We created chances but unfortunately didn't put them away.
"Brian Woodall is playing well at the moment and he's got that bit of sparkle back into his game and he did really well tonight and it was unfortunate that we just didn't have that bit of luck and it proved it in the last minute.
"We took Danny Holmes off and made the substitution and asked the referee how long was there to go and he said three minutes and he's got another eight minutes from somewhere so we were a bit gutted.
"Rob put one in the side netting in the first half that looked like it was going in but you've got to get there to miss them and that's what Rob did for us tonight. He worked really hard and got into those positions but unfortunately did put them away and you've got David Blenkinsopp sitting there looking at me but there again Rob's got to that position.
"Their scorer should have been red carded, two hands straight into one of our players and I think their number six slapped Danny Holmes in the face but the referee didn't do anything about that. I felt the referee got a bit intimidated by their team tonight.
"Mickey Lyons was another one who got slapped by I think number five but you've just got to deal with that sometimes and get on with our own game. I thought in the second half we defended a bit too deep and the ball came back too easily. I felt the lads did well tonight and credit to them.
"We thought the penalty was a bit harsh because the guy has gone and fallen over before Darren even got to him but the ref just looked at him and gave the penalty straight away but we did have players behind the ball so in our view it was just a yellow card. Darren then did brilliantly to save the penalty.
"It's a waste of breath to try and speak to the officials after the game. It's a bit unfair because the officials have been quite good all season and for a game like this you want strong officials but unfortunately they didn't see it that way.
"It's not games like this, if we are not successful this season, where we will have lost it, it was games like Greenwood Meadows and Barrow Town those nights where it was lost. If we'd have shown the same commitment all season like we showed tonight, we wouldn't be where we are now we'd be top. But, we have to accept the situation where we are at the moment and just keep going.
"We're sure the teams above us are going to drop points. Heanor have to play us and Borrowash and Hinckley go to Borrowash on Saturday. We had Hinckley watched on Saturday and we come tonight and there are six different players and we are thinking what's going off? How many of these players will play at Borrowash on Saturday? I'm sure it will be a tasty match!
"Gary Norton is working tonight but I spoke to him at five o'clock and he was struggling to make the game but I'll phone him on the way home and brief him but I've got no problems with the players tonight. They all put a good shift in and played well and were very unfortunate to draw. It feels like a defeat really."
