Midland Football Alliance
Tipton Sports Academy, Tipton
Saturday, 26th November 2011, 3.00pm
Gresley At The Double
Gresley manager Gary Norton made just one change to the starting line-up from last Saturday with Adam Betteridge coming in to replace the injured Rob Spencer.
Playing into a strong blustery wind and on a very uneven surface Gresley got the better of their opponents with goals from Richard Hanslow and James Jepson ensuring that all three points went back to South Derbyshire and completing their first league double of the season.
Gresley started brightly and despite the strong wind in their faces they made the first opening after 18 minutes when Marc Goodfellow cut into the middle and from the edge of the area hit a low shot that was a fraction wide of the near post.
Tipton were relying on a very long throw aided by the wind from Tom Tonks that was causing problems for the visiting defence who did well to keep the ball out at times.
However, not only did Gresley deal with the pressure but they took the lead on 26 minutes. Gareth Langford made a good run up the right and threaded the ball through to Hanslow who did well to shake off the attention of his maker before turning superbly and hitting a low shot past home keeper Chris Collins and into the far bottom corner of the net.
Town almost levelled immediately when a shot was deflected but the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Minutes later Gresley almost grabbed a second goal when Dean Oliver laid the ball to Mickey Lyons who return the compliment passing back to Oliver who side footed his effort just wide.
Gresley should have doubled their advantage on 32 minutes. A cross from Adam Betteridge was a little long and Goodfellow raced after it only to be floored by the keeper who received a yellow card for his trouble. Referee Mr Sarginson and his assistant on the near side both agreed that it was a penalty.
Hanslow took the spot kick but despite beating Collins saw his shot hit the underside of the bar and come back out where Jepson fired the rebound over the bar.
Town's Dave Bate and Tonks both had half chances as the first half came to a halt which both came to nothing.
The visitors opened the second half in the best way possible by extending their lead. With hardly two minutes on the clock some superb football sliced the Town backline in two as Goodfellow picked out Jepson on the far side of the area and the final low shot from Jepson left Collins a spectator as the ball flew past him and into the far corner for the midfielder's first goal for the club.
If Gresley thought the game was over they had a warning when a corner from the left by Max Bissell picked out Paul Henley but his free header went just over the bar.
Tipton were handed another free header minutes later but this time it was Nathan Waite who put his header over the bar.
Gresley seemed to have taken their foot off the gas as Tipton once more went close when substitute Warren Brooks was given space but his shot from a good position was blazed over the bar and two minutes later Gresley keeper Gary Hateley had to make what was his only save of the game diving low to his right to push a low shot away from the base of the far post for a corner.
The nearest Tipton got to having the ball in the net came on 83 minutes when a long throw was inadvertently flicked goalwards by Michael Nottingham but Jordi Gough was on hand to clear the ball off the line and safely away.
Manager's View
"Any victory away from home is always nice but when we arrived and saw how blustery the conditions were and how bobbly the pitch was we knew we'd have to dig in and see what we could get out of it.
"We didn't really get the ball down as we'd like because of the conditions but having said that we played some good stuff in the first half and the movement and the passing to make it two- nil early in the second half was as good as we've played all season. So we're really, really pleased with the three points against a battling hardworking side who put you under a lot of pressure particularly from set plays and throw-ins.
"I thought the lads defended superbly and they had a bit of luck at times which you need but overall really pleased.
"Richard Hanslow's goal was fantastic and that's why he's in the side at the moment. I told him away from home we were a little bit tempted to go with Royce Turville and Dean Oliver up front from a workrate perspective but Richard is in the team because he's scoring goals and he scored another cracking goal today.
"We then had the chance to go two-nil up. I believe Richard hit the bar from the spot. I wasn't looking myself because I'm a little nervous with penalties at the moment and then it was a little nervy at just one-nil up.
"To come out of the blocks as we did early in the second half and get that second goal just made us relax a bit more although we didn't get the ball down and move it about as we'd like to and control the game in that way I felt that Tipton to some extent were always at arms length. We had to absorb a lot of pressure like we did last week but the lads came through and did well.
"They didn't cause Gary Hateley too many problems but they do put you under a lot of pressure especially with the cracking option of a throw like that. It was almost like a corner. In fact we were talking at halftime that if we were under pressure would the preference be to put the ball out for a corner as opposed for a throw-in, it was difficult to choose such was the advantage they had from throw-ins. I don't remember Gary having too many saves to make but we had to absorb a fair bit of pressure from their style of play.
"Tipton will take a lot of points from sides this season but things were on our side today and the lads did well.
"Looking ahead to next Saturday we'll have to assess things after today regarding any injuries. We'll have a look at Rob Spencer who missed out today due to a hamstring injury during the week. Aaron Dillon's suspension is up so he will be available. Unfortunately we miss Lee Barrow next week as he's away on family business.
"James Jepson is missing for two weeks as he's going to Australia. That's probably the biggest loss for us but we've known about that since he signed. We'll see if we've got anything within the squad. We have been looking to add another body to the squad but one of the options we're talking to has a bit of a knock so even if that came off he wouldn't come into the squad and another option is on a contract at his club. But, if no-one comes in we've got enough in the squad to juggle it about a little bit.
"Tom Betteridge will be back in the running. He's a bit short of fitness and it'll be great to have him back about the place. Richard Butler is back from Dubai for four or five weeks and hopefully he can train in the week and he's an option because he was doing really, really well and had just got himself in the side before he had the opportunity to go out to Dubai.
"We sent Matt Hill for an x-ray on his ankle because we were concerned about the lack of progress on how his ankle injury was clearing up. We're not sure what it is yet but it's ligament damage there is no break or fracture bit it might be another two weeks before he can start training again but we'll check on that each week."
