Midland Football Alliance
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Tuesday, 3rd April 2012, 7.45pm
Gresley In Last Gasp Win
This game looked like it would end all square as time was quickly running out but then up popped Michael Nottingham to head home James Jepson corner to seal a dramatic last gasp win over table toppers Westfields at the Moat Ground.
Gresley were forced into a change with keeper Tom Gutteridge replacing Gary Hateley who had picked up a hamstring injury late in the game at Boldmere on Saturday. Jepson came in to midfield with Mickey Lyons having a place on the bench. New signing Phil Massingham was also included in the squad as they looked to avenge the first day of the season drubbing at West fields.
The home side was the thickness of a post away from making the perfect start when Marc Goodfellow clattered the base of an upright with barely thirty seconds on the clock.
Westfields hit back and some loose defending allowed then a chance on goal but Jordi Gough was aware of the danger and cleared the ball off the line.
At the other end Goodfellow warmed the palms of visiting keeper Matt Gwynne but Rob Spencer fired the rebound into the side netting.
Westfields were beginning to find their feet after a shaky start and Gutteridge was called on to make a terrific save as Jamie Cuss threatened to open the scoring.
It was end-to-end stuff with Hanslow going close at one end and Gough having to make a fine block at the other.
Just as the first half was drawing to a halt Westfields took the lead. Some poor marking allowed Joel Edwards to head home San Gwynne's free kick from the right.
The second period opened with Gresley putting a header over the bar from Jepson's corner but then on 57 minutes Gresley were caught out again from a set piece. This time it was a corner taken by Sam Gwynne from the right and Phil Glover was given a free header to beat Gutteridge from the edge of the box.
How would Gresley react to finding themselves with a huge mountain to climb against the top of the league? The answer was superbly!
Oliver showed their intentions with a shot that blistered the top of the bar. A free kick from Goodfellow was headed into the box by Nottingham cause pandemonium and Oliver was on hand to slam the ball home from close in.
Gresley began to turn the screw with the belief that they could still get something out of the game and Goodfellow was unlucky to see his goal bound shot hit the back of Massingham who had just replaced Hanslow.
Goodfellow then caused more panic in the Westfields box with a free kick and after a scramble the ball came out to Jamie Barrett who fired over the bar.
On 70 minutes Mickey Lyons replaced the hard working Rob Spencer and six minutes later the change brought dividends as Gresley drew level. A fine passage of football ended with Goodfellow threading the ball through to substitute Mickey Lyons who fired across the keeper and into the bottom corner.
Gresley now believed they could win the game and continued to press forward with Nottingham heading Goodfellow's free kick over the bar. Because of the time wasting from the visitors and the altercation between the two benches the referee Mr Sarginson added on quite a bit of extra time much to the annoyance of the visiting bench.
The home side took full advantage as with five minutes added Gresley scored the winner when Nottingham rose at the far post to head Jepson's corner from the left past the keeper and most of the 459 crowd raised the roof with their celebrations which means the title race is still very much on.
Unfortunately some unsavoury behaviour from the visitors at the final whistle spoilt what had been one of the most entertaining games between two very good sides witnessed at the Moat Ground for many a season and resulted in their skipper being red carded by the referee.
Manager's View
Martin Rowe
"That game is what football's all about. A lot of people in this ground most likely thinking two-nil down and we weren't playing that well, thinking we are not going to come back from this! But, we've done it time and time again coming back from behind and actually won games and what a way to win a game!
"In the very last minute Michael Nottingham has come up, first time he's scored in quite a long time. We've been giving him some stick; he's got to get into the box and be more powerful and low and behold gets the winner - what a fantastic game!
"It was very disappointing to concede from two set pieces. We try and work hard with the lads at picking up but they delivered some quality balls into the box. After the first twenty minutes we just lost our way a bit and in the second half when they got the second goal it knocked us a bit.
"Jordi Gough won a fifty, fifty which was never him and that sort of gave us the momentum to go on and win the game. I thought Jordi had a fantastic second half today and credit to him.
"Last Saturday's result was very disappointing. We tried to change things but unfortunately it didn't work. We always do it for the best intentions of the team but unfortunately we made a few mistakes and got punished for it. But tonight we changed things. We went from a four-four-two to a four-three-three and it worked for us because we've gone on and won the game. We can't always get it right but tonight we got it right.
"Gary Hateley's injury is not as bad as we first thought. We thought he was going to be out for the rest of the season but he's been assessed and there's a possibility that he could be available for Saturday's game if not Monday's game.
"Unfortunately, Mickey Lyons goes away for the weekend unavailable for the Easter games and then his suspension but we've got to push on from this result now. The crowd was fantastic tonight and once we got the one goal they were urging us on to get another and another - absolutely brilliant and if we continue with that support from now until the end of the season I'm sure we'll win all seven games!"
