FA Cup Preliminary Round
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 28th August 2010, 3.00pm
Quorn Not In The Hunt As Gresley Go Through
A hat trick from Brian Woodall and a late goal from Rob Spencer ensured what was in the end a very comfortable win for Gresley over their Leicestershire neighbours who ply their trade two levels higher than the Moatmen in the Evo-Stick Division One South formerly the UniBond League in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.
Gresley looked the more determined of the two sides in the early moments and took a deserved 16th minute lead. Liam Hebberd's hardwork in front of the area paid off as he managed to push the ball through to Woodall whose first attempt was blocked. However, he reacted like lightening and regained his footing to blast the rebound past the helpless Quorn keeper Matt Nurse.
Two minutes later Woodall was testing Matt Nurse again but the keeper did well to hold onto a low shot after the Gresley front man had expertly held off his marker before shooting.
Quorn were all sixes and sevens and had no answer to the passing and movement of the home side. Mickey Lyons made a run down the right and flashed a shot across the goal mouth and past the far post.
It wasn't until the final five minutes of the first half Quorn had their solitary attempt on goal when Kris Nurse turned on the edge of the area but his shot was pushed away easily by Gary Hateley for a corner.
On Tuesday's visit to Greenwood in midweek Gresley were constantly playing the long high ball much to the management's frustration but today it was from one such kick that brought Gresley's second goal with just minutes remaining of the half.
Hateley launched a long route one ball that Woodall superbly controlled on the edge of Quorn's area and after beating his marker and the keeper slammed the ball home.
As to be expected Quorn came out looking far more determined and Ash Robinson hit a shot wide after just two minutes of the second half starting.
But their spell lasted just 10 minutes or so and Gresley were back threatening the visitors' goal. On 62 minutes Gresley were awarded a free kick on the right almost by the corner flag. Woodall whipped in the kick and Tom Land met it perfectly on the far side but Matt Nurse made a terrific reaction save to block the header and another goal.
Gresley were clearly on top and forced three corners in succession before Quorn finally ventured out of their half and on 73 minutes Tom Byrne saw Hateley off his line and tried a chip that unfortunately sailed over the bar.
Four minutes later Quorn were reduced to ten men. Awarded a throw-in on the right Robinson tried to gain five yards by moving up the line to take the throw. Spencer objected and touched the ball away only to have the ball thrown at him by the petulant Robinson. Referee Andrew Fox quite rightly showed Spencer a yellow card but Robinson was shown a straight red for his irresponsible retaliation.
On 80 minutes Lyons was denied a goal when he delicately chipped Matt Nurse only to see the ball come back off the base of the far post. Spencer reacted quickly to the rebound and cut inside former Moatman Chris Gray but the final shot scraped the wrong side of the upright.
The game was as good as over on 88 minutes when Carl Slater burst into the box only to be brought down by Matt Nurse giving the referee no option but to point to the spot. Quorn substitute Anthony Marriott was yellow carded for his protests and the keeper could consider himself very fortunate not to have followed Robinson into the dressing room for bringing Slater down.
Woodall claimed the kick and gave the keeper no chance blasting the ball down the middle to complete his hat trick.
Quorn were clearly a well beaten side and the proof came in time added on at the end of the game. Tom Betteridge raced down the right easily beating the defenders before sending a low cross into the box that Spencer met smashing the ball home giving the scoreline a more realistic look.
Manager's View
Martin Rowe
"After Tuesday's game me and Gary had a long chat because we were very disappointed. We felt we'd let the club down, the players had let the club down and that was one way of paying it back today.
"We were strong in all areas and dominated the game particularly in the first half. I felt in the second half they came back into the game for the first fifteen minutes but didn't score and we went on from there to win the game quite comfortably.
"One of the reasons why we cannot get performances like that back to back is like when we turned up at Greenwood and the players see the pitch and think "we'll not be able to play on that" and the players weren't up for it but that's mine and Gary's responsibility to make sure we pick the right team and maybe we didn't pick the right team on Tuesday.
"Yes, we know we seem to struggle in midweek away games and it's something we're going to put a lot more effort in for our next few away games on a Tuesday or Wednesday night but we've got confidence in these players and whatever team we put out they got the ability to beat anybody like we've shown today.
"I think it's also when you turn up at places like Greenwood and see the facilities the lads just drop a little bit but it's something the players have got to deal with and if they can't deal with it we might have to look elsewhere for players who are going to give us more consistency.
"I thought it was a team performance today and I thought all the team did well. They defended well, they attacked well and we shouldn't pick out individuals out because if it wasn't for the other lads Brian Woodall wouldn't get his goals.
"We came up with a system that meant that Brian had to do a lot of work and couldn't hide like he sometimes does in a game. Brian put a shift in for us today and he worked very well for us.
"Gareth Langford has unfortunately not been available due to his Open University studies and been on holidays but we took a bit of a gamble on him today and got sixty six minutes out of him and I thought he played very well today and he can only get better and he's in our plans.
"We'll have Richard Butler back next week as well so that will be another bonus and that's what we need more competition for places.
"I thought Liam Hebberd was positive every time he got the ball. He looked to take people on and never looked to go backwards always wanted to go forward and that's what I like in my football.
"On the injuries, we may have brought Royce Turville back a little too early. Because when he came on last week he did very well and obviously not so Royce will be given more time to get fit properly and see if we can sort his calf problem out.
"Oliver Hancock picked up a bit of an hamstring but it shouldn't be too bad and he should be available for next weekend but neither will be involved on Monday."
