East Midlands Counties League
Welby Road, Asfordby Hill
Saturday, 19th March 2011, 3.00pm
Woodall Double Sets Up Win
There were not many supporters in the Welby Road Ground at half time who'd have guessed the final score as there were very few opportunities for either side as the hard dry uneven surface making the run of the ball quite unpredictable.
Gresley manager Gary Norton made just one change to last week's starting line-up replacing David Blenkinsopp with Rob Spencer up front.
The first half hour had very little to report on but then on 32 minutes a flash of generous livened up what had been a bit of a drab game up until then. Tom Betteridge made a good run down the left and put over a cross that Brian Woodall superbly controlled with two touches but his final volley blazed over the bar.
Gresley went close with a minute of the first half remaining when a long ball into the Holwell area was allowed to bounce and neither defender Andy Teare nor keeper Richard Cragg took charge of the situation and Gresley's Spencer jumped in between them and tried an audacious back header that unluckily clattered the bar.
With the referee about to blow for the half time break a slip from Barry Woolley allowed Adam Bishop to loop a shot that visiting keeper Gary Hateley had to push away.
The second half was a much better affair with Gresley forcing two very early corners but it was Sports who went closest to opening the scoring on 56 minutes. A superbly struck free kick by Bishop saw another flying save from Hateley who palmed the effort away for a corner.
Gradually Gresley began to take control of the game and looked the most likely to score the goals. A corner from the right by Woodall found Woolley at the far post who headed a powerful downward effort that bounced up off the hard ground and struck the bar with the keeper beaten.
Mickey Lyons then tested Cragg with a low shot from just outside the area that the keeper did well to hold down to his left.
However, Cragg was at fault when Gresley took the lead minutes later. A long ball landed just outside the Holwell area and a bit of a mix up between Cragg and his defender David Newton seemed to cause the keeper to hesitate before attempting to clear the ball. Unfortunately, the ball was either blocked by Woodall or Newton and squirted out back across the box and Woodall reacted quickly by racing for the ball and coolly slotting it into the unguarded net.
Gresley went close again on 68 minutes when Woodall hit a shot that was heading towards the goal before getting deflected for a corner. The first flag kick from the left by Woodall was knocked out for another this time from the right. He kick picked out Woolley at the far post who headed the ball back into the box where it appeared to be handled by a defender but continued on its way to Spencer who headed home.
The best move of the game resulted in goal number three. Aaron Dillon, who had replaced Spencer moments earlier, made a tremendous run down the right and cut the ball back to Lyons who in turn slipped a pass through to Woodall who made no mistake ramming the ball home.
Goal number four came when Woodall collected a free kick down the right and put over an inviting cross that Dillon powerfully headed home.
Manager's View
"It was very tight in the first half and what we expected if the last two visits here were anything to go by. When we got here we had a couple of sides in mind depending on the state of the pitch which was a bit lively.
"The first half for both teams was not a pretty affair but what we did, we did well but for Barry Woolley's slip in injury time which made Gary Hateley make a save. We'd had a couple of good chances through Brian Woodall and Rob Spencer with his improvised header hitting the bar. But apart from that it was quite a tight game.
"At half time we said that we needed to keep doing the same things, keep grinding it out and make sure we start the second half well which we did.
"We managed to get the breakthrough and once we got it the game opened up a little bit and we were able to go on and win by a more convincing margin.
"Gary Hateley made a good save early on which was important and we are equally pleased, not just with the three points, but with our third away clean sheet on the bounce.
"It was a very difficult decision bringing Rob Spencer in. We started with that system last week and we gave David Blenkinsopp an opportunity when Royce Turville got injured. Whether it was the way we were playing or the way Ellistown was playing we had to change our shape to a four-four-two.
"We were keen to play that shape again and if I'm honest with the state of the pitch, I almost went with the four-four-two from the off but we thought no, we wanted to play football and not just stick it in corners and try and turn teams. That invariably means having Mickey Lyons in the role he plays very well for us, so we started with Robbie. His work rate has been phenomenal, it really has, and he's done it a couple of times for us. He's done well today and put them under a lot of pressure and got up with his goal as well.
"Aaron Dillon has done well of late. It's frustrating for him and for me because he's worth a start soon. When you look around the team, you have Aaron on the bench, David Blenkinsopp on the bench and Matt Hill and Adam Betteridge who have both been consistent as well. You've also got a Conference winner Danny Holmes also on the bench. That's the quality we have in the squad at the moment. It's a headache, but a nice headache to have. We've also got Richard Butler who isn't fit at the moment and Royce who's recovering from his groin injury he picked up last week.
"We have got a strong squad and some has said we should strengthen and bring people in but it's a question of where? If someone became available who was better than what we've got in the squad we've then got to make the decision whether to upset the balance. Obviously we brought Lee Barrow in recently and he's done very well in his opening two games for us but unless we have a need to bring someone in we probably won't but we'll see as there is still time to get injuries.
"We said to Royce that we'd talk on Monday. He was prepared to come here today and have a fitness test with a view to a place on the bench but given that we'd got a full squad of sixteen available we felt it important to give Royce a few more days. That few more days may make all the difference or it may not so we'll have to consider that before we decide on the squad for Tuesday."
