East Midlands Counties League
The Town Ground, Heanor
Saturday, 2nd April 2011, 3.00pm
Points Shared
Although this was billed as the biggest game of the day in the East Midlands Counties League it certainly wasn't one for the footballing purist. A combination of a stiff breeze blowing from end to end down the slope, a rock hard pitch and the ball spending an inordinate amount of time way over the heads of even the tallest players led to hardly any chances of note throughout the whole ninety minutes.
Heanor were without their regular keeper and another couple of players but Gresley manager Gary Norton made just one change bringing back keeper Gary Hateley after missing the last two games due to work commitments with fellow keeper Darren Keeling having to take his place on the bench.
As was expected the home side came out of the blocks strongly forcing two early corners and for the first 15 minutes were clearly on top.
However, it was Gresley who went closest to opening the scoring when Danny Holmes curled in a corner from the left that was only half cleared with the ball flying straight up into the air. Jordi Gough challenged for the ball at the near post as it came down and saw his header fizz across the face of Town's goal.
By the 25th minute it was Gresley turn to get on top with Brian Woodall starting to make a nuisance of himself with some very deft footwork and by pure hard work. It was due to his graft that Gresley were awarded a free kick 40 yards out. Holmes took the kick and what a cracker it was. He hit the ball perfectly but it clattered the junction of bar and post and bounced away with Town keeper Neil West a mere spectator.
Heanor were forced into a change just before the half hour when Richard Hodgman replaced the unfortunate Adam Kay who appeared to twist an ankle as he tried to clear a Gresley attack. The home side's plight got worse four minutes later as one of the league's leading scorers Nathan Benger limped off the field with what looked like a hamstring problem.
Gresley finished the half the stronger of the two teams with another Holmes free kick clearing the bar by the merest of margins and Carl Slater firing wide.
The second period opened in an almost carbon copy of the first although the results could have been a lot worse for the visitors as Heanor missed what was a solid gold chance. With only two minutes gone Gresley defender Lee Barrow tried to head a ball back to his keeper but it was woefully short and to make matters worse fell to Dave Moon completely unmarked but instead of smashing the gift into the net he rushed his shot and embarrassingly ballooned it well wide of the target.
Heanor were again turning the screw and were pressing the visitors back with almost every attack. Ashley Grayson went close with a header over the bar and substitute Hodgman causing problems in the goal mouth with some terrific long throw-ins
As in the first half Gresley slowly got back into the game and a cross from Woodall needed to be palmed away by West only to Slater whose header cleared the bar.
On the hour Norton made two changes with Royce Turville replacing Rob Spencer and David Blenkinsopp replacing Mickey Lyons to add a bit more bite up front to try and grab that all important goal but try as they may it would not come for either side.
Hodgman's long thrown-ins were still causing problems in the visitors' area but Gresley managed to clear the danger and indeed had the better of the chances to grab all three points right at the end of the game.
The first came on 88 minutes when Matt Hill's corner from the right ended up landing nicely for Slater who disappointingly fired his shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
The second chance was just the width of an upright from winning the game for Gresley. A long punt up field by Hateley saw Turville race forward and with the Heanor back line looking, or rather hoping, for an assistant referee's flag to halt his progress the Gresley substitute managed to get a toe to the ball but unfortunately steered it the wrong side of the woodwork.
Manager's View
"It's hard to view that as either two points lost or one point gained in the situation we're in. Heanor are going to happier with the point than we are perhaps. Obviously it keeps us at arms distance being six points behind on level games with eight left to go.
"The frustrating thing for us was that we really didn't get going. It was very similar to the Borrowash game a battle. We battled and I'm happy with that and we got a clean sheet away from home but we really didn't create too much this afternoon.
"We tended to go to direct a little bit too early. Whether that was due to the bobbly pitch I don't know but we didn't seem comfortable on the ball and it seemed to be like a hot potato at times. We didn't move the ball around with the quality we do more often than not.
"And that was the frustrating thing for me that we didn't show what a good footballing side we are. Maybe it was because Heanor closed us down early; maybe it was such a big occasion that if we'd have lost the game we could have kissed the league goodbye with eight to go which would have been a big ask.
"I think we defended very well apart from the first fifteen minutes of the second half when we couldn't get out of our own half. We gifted them one or two opportunities through sloppiness so we decided to change it and go 4-4-2 rightly or wrongly and everyone has their own opinions but we couldn't create anything because they defended superbly well especially their big fellow at the back.
"At times our choice of pass and ball probably suited him like a magnet to him especially when we put the ball down his throat all the time.
"But on balance of play there have not been any clear cut chances. I think we hit the bar with a long-range free kick and I think the keeper made a save near his near post in the second half. They had the chances we put them in when their lad put it wide. There weren't many chances for either side.
"We are not out of things. There are eight games to go and a lot of points to play for. I think the winners are Borrowash, if they've won today, so it just makes things a little more exciting.
"The quality in this league is not bad. Just look at Heanor's results just recently. They went away to Graham Street Prims expecting to win that but Prims turned them over but apart from that they've won eleven on the bounce which is a fantastic achievement.
"We've got Bardon, who beat us, next week and Heanor play Gedling Miners Welfare so just looking a week ahead there are some tough games. I've not spend too much time looking at the run-in and who is playing who I'd rather just concentrate on ourselves and see what happens.
"There was no shortage of effort from the lads today but we were a little bit slow to the second ball and didn't gamble on things especially in the first half. Had we gone and done that and imposed ourselves on the game who knows? We might have been able to have sneaked a winner.
"This is the second season on the trot were we've drawn nil-nil. We beat Borrowash and drew with them and we've done the same with Heanor so it's not days like today that's going to cost us if we do ultimately fall short it's the other games when we've had sloppy performances and not picked the points up. Greenwood Meadows home and away and Barrow away spring to mind and there are others early in the season like Ibstock where we drew and didn't play particularly well.
"All sides do that with the ifs, buts and maybes - that's football. There are eight games to go and the past is the past and we've got to go and pick up as many points as we can from those remaining games starting on Tuesday and see where that leaves us.
"Barry Woolley was struggling today; he has a bit of a sciatic problem, a nerve problem that's giving him some discomfort and could be another week or so away. We could have done with him today because we had a few corners and if we'd have had him up there it would have given us that little bit of quality and height in the box on set plays. Jordi Gough was touch and go whether he would make it on a hard pitch. He has a bit of an ankle problem so we'll have to see how he is.
"It was a huge dilemma regarding which keeper to use. The decision wasn't made until late this morning to be honest. Darren Keeling took it on the chin; he's an absolute brilliant guy. The last two games you can't fault him and he's done very, very well for us but we just felt the little areas of the game that Gary brings like his talking and his presence just gave him the edge. He's done well for us this season and he's not let us down so today we made the call, rightly or wrongly, to go with Gary.
"Darren is upset and disappointed but he's been brilliant with it. He's the ultimate professional and just wants us to win and the added twist is this was his former club where he started the season and played a few games for Heanor and it would have been great to have come here today and play but we've had to make a difficult choice and fair play to him he's taken it on the chin."
