Midland Football Alliance
DCS Stadium, Stratford
Saturday, 10th December 2011, 3.00pm
Goodfellow Double Grabs A Point For Gresley
Gresley were reduced to nine men in the latter stages of this game but bravely hung on to grab at point at Stratford.
What, up to that point, had been an entertaining game was turned by one of the poorest refeering decisions anyone is likely to see at any level of football. Gresley substitute Adam Betteridge cleanly tackled former Moatman Danny Haynes on the edge of the home penalty area winning the ball but to everyone's amazement referee Arif Khalfe showed the young player a straight red card when even a yellow would have been harsh.
This and a second yellow card for Rob Spencer minutes later gave the homeside the incentive to press forward and the pressure paid off as Stratford grabbed an equaliser late in the game.
Manager Gary Norton was forced to make a late change to his side as Richard Hanslow was taken ill before the game which meant that fellow striker Royce Turville started up front alongside Dean Oliver. New signing Danny Holmes came into the midfield replacing Gareth Langford who was unavailable.
The first fifteen minutes or so was a cagey affair with neither side carving out a clear-cut chance but on 24 minutes Gresley took the lead when Holmes brilliantly picked out Marc Goodfellow over on the left who strode forward and hit a shot that took a deflection off Haynes and beat keeper Richard Norris.
A couple of minutes later Stratford did have the ball in the net but the effort was ruled out for a handball.
Turville then went close to doubling Gresley's lead after being put through by Goodfellow but the final shot was too close to Norris who made the save. The striker then was just a couple of inches away from connecting with Dean Oliver's cross from the right as Gresley continued to press forward.
With four minutes remaining of the first half Gresley got the goal they deserved when Goodfellow beat Norris from the left with a stinging low shot into the far corner of the net.
Gresley could have gone in for the break with a bigger margin when Spencer flashed a shot just past the near post.
A moment of slack defending saw Town reduce the deficit on 59 minutes. A half clearance came out to a Town player on the left and he saw Haynes in acres of space on the opposite flank and with Jordi Gough desperately trying to cover the Town defender managed to get his cross in and Alsop unmarked in the middle got his head to the ball and flicked it past Gresley keeper Gary Hateley.
Hateley did well to push Mykel Beckley's low shot away for a corner at the near post as the home side threatened and from the flag kick a ball was sent over to Martin Thompson at the far post and his effort was tipped backwards by Hateley but Spencer was on hand to clear the attempt off the line.
Goodfellow, who was causing the home side problems went agonisingly close to completing his hat trick when he saw Norris off his line but his lob skimmed the top of the bar and landed on the top of the net with the keeper a mere spectator.
On 69 minutes Town were denied by the woodwork as a cross-cum-shot from substitute Joe Wright clattered the base of the far post and then minutes later the post came to Gresley's rescue again this time it was Ricky Baker who was denied.
Goodfellow, having perhaps his best game so far in a Gresley shirt, went close again when he collected a short corner and from the bye-line just failed to curl the ball in at the far post.
Then came the dreadful refereeing decision that spoilt the game and swung the advantage to the home side and what made things worse was the total lack of consistency from the official as moments earlier a lunging above the ankle tackle with studs showing from a home player had failed to bring even a warning let alone a card of any colour.
However, as much as the red card was a travesty Spencer's sending off moments later was not as he's already received a yellow card earlier in the game and his rash tackle was fully deserving of a another yellow and therefore a red.
It was from this free kick over on the left that Stratford was to equalise. A quick free kick from Liam Reynolds to Baker allowed him to fire in a low shot that was turned home by Alsop.
Gresley had at least 5 minutes to face an onslaught and they did well to keep Stratford out as they went looking for what would have been an undeserved winner.
However, it was Gresley who could have sneaked the winner from a clever free kick. Goodfellow was charging through the middle and was brought down from behind just outside the area again resulting in frustration as the perpetrator got away without even a warning from Mr. Kalfhe!
With the wall two paces closer than they should have been Goodfellow looked to be lining up for a shot but he cleverly slid the ball to Oliver on his right but Norris blocked the final shot with his legs.
Manager's View
"I thought the refereeing was absolutely disgraceful but having said that Stratford's second half performance they really did come at us and got back into the game after fifteen minutes or so of the second half.
"They had a lot of possession and made us change our tactics but the game was turned on its head with the red card for Adam Betteridge. He'd only just come the pitch and we were absolutely astounded. Danny Haynes their full-back who used to play for us said it was a decent tackle. The referee said he saw it as a high tackle and he took the man before the ball.
"Adam slid in and he got some of the ball and you could see where the ball's gone into the middle of the pitch and the referee just got it wrong but he won't admit it. After things had calmed down the referee let me go in to see him and tell me how he made the decision but he's got it wrong, completely and utterly wrong.
"To be fair he set the tone when he booked one of their guys after two minutes for a nothing tackle and then we went down to nine men when he gave Rob Spencer his second yellow card which I haven't got an issue with.
"With nine men we then created a chance from a very crafty free kick and the keeper has made a good save from Dean Oliver.
"It was a good point because it's a very hard place to come to and you could see what a good footballing side they've got. You look at the league table and wonder why they are in the midtable with the side they've got.
"I think the referee has had a bad one today but you can't do anything about that. We all make mistakes and we all have bad days but if I did made a decision so misinformed like that at work I'd get at least a warning and possibly given my marching orders. The assessor is with the referee at the moment and he no doubt will be telling him to let it calm down.
"I don't know if you can get in trouble for dissing the officials but how can you respect things when they are blatantly wrong but go on, we've got to take tough decisions on the chin and the key thing is that the unbeaten run goes on but I don't fancy coming up against that referee again in the near future.
"I was really pleased especially with the first half when we played really well. We knocked the ball around very, very well and obviously got a couple of goals on the break down the left hand side. With the system they play there was some space down there and we did very, very well to be leading two-nil at halftime.
"Obviously second half they tweaked things slightly and credit to them they came out and got a goal and hit both posts and caused a lot of problems for us and on the balance of things without the intervention of the referee a point was a fair result but the emotions have come from the intervention of the referee. But, on the balance of things we had the first half and they had the second and a draw was a fair result.
"Marc Goodfellow was fantastic and it was probably one of the best games he's had for us and it was great to have Danny Holmes in there as well. They've got a good understanding and I hope it's the start of a good partnership.
"When we got here today, Richard Hanslow, who has been on a great run of scoring form for us, had been ill over night so we dropped him to the bench but in all fairness he wasn't well enough. He was lying on the physio's bench suffering from a virus while the lads were warming up.
"It gave Royce Turville his chance and he's done well. He put a great shift in for us which he always does. Hopefully Richard will have recovered in the next twenty four, forty eight hours and may be available for midweek.
"As for Tuesday, we may have James Jepson available as he comes back from Australia this weekend, Gareth Langford will also be available as he's been a best man at a wedding today. We'll assess things and decide our tactics for the Alfreton game on Tuesday. I don't imagine it will be a priority for either side. Obviously Alfreton are in the Conference and battling hard for survival. I believe they had a good win the trophy today which will do their confidence a power of good and obviously for our own reasons given our position in the league at the moment towards the higher end of the table it isn't a priority for us so we'll just things calm down and see what it is we need do for Tuesday.
"With Gary Hateley being away after Christmas we are working hard to get a keeper in. We are looking at our options. We have Darren Keeling who is out getting games at the moment but rest assured there will be someone wearing the goal keeper's shirt, so don't worry and we'll announce something when we have something to announce in due course."
