FA Cup 1st Qualfying Round
Mickleover Sports Club, Station Road, Mickleover
Saturday, 17th September 2011, 3.00pm
Cup Exit For Gresley
Don't be deceived by the scoreline as this FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round was much closer than it suggests.
For large periods of the match Gresley were equal to if not better than their neighbours who ply their trade two levels above in the Evo-Stik Premier but the game hinged on a poor refereeing decision which could have seen Gresley take a three-one lead when Carl Slater was brought down from behind in the box.
Sports came out of the blocks quickly and were soon putting their visitors under pressure with keeper Darren Keeling having to block Kieran O'Connells shot with his legs. However, from the resultant corner Keeling could do nothing to prevent the goal that followed as Karl Ashton rose un marked to head home after just five minutes.
Gresley levelled with a goal worth the £9 entrance alone. Stepping a yard inside the opposition half Marc Goodfellow looked up and saw Sports' keeper Dodsley well off his line and duly lobbed the ball over his head and into the back of the net.
Both sides were finding it tight and few clear cut chances were being made but Sports went close before the break. Ashton beat Keeling but his shot was cleared off the line by Jamie Barrett and then O'Connell clipped the outside of the near post with a free kick.
It was Gresley who started off the quicker in the second half and they took the lead within three minutes of the restart. Rob Spencer was picked out on the right and he smashed a shot that beat Dodsley but came back off the bar but Goodfellow was following up and headed the ball home.
It was no more that Gresley deserved and indeed they should have had a chance to increase their lead minutes later when Slater was put through but with only the keeper to beat he was brought down on the edge of the box but the astonished crowd saw the referee indicate that the defender had got the ball.
That decision was made all the more bitter when the referee gave a soft penalty at the other end just five minutes later when Barrett apparently brought down O'Connell who chose to take the spot kick himself but justice was done when he hit the post and the follow up disallowed.
Gresley were the authors of their own downfall when some more poor defending allowed Ashton to rise and head the cross from the left home when totally unmarked in the box.
Two minutes later Sports took the lead for the second time when Keeling failed to punch a cross away a sufficient distance and Ashton claimed his hat-trick ramming the ball in at the near post.
The visitors were back on their heels as Sports applied further pressure with Liam Walshe heading against the bar and O'Connell firing the rebound well over the bar when well placed. Seconds later the hosts went close again this time Keeling blocked O'Connell's shot and the rebound cleared off the line.
More slack defending from Gresley handed Sports their fourth goal when once more they failed to mark an opposition player and former Moatman Liam Walshe was allowed to head home.
Another piece of poor officiating saw Sports given a second penalty when the unlucky Matt Hill was adjudged to have tripped Ashton who went down very easily but again justice was served when Keeling saved his spot kick.
O'Connell then got a lucky break when he was allowed to race down the right flank after being at least two yards offside and unbelievably not seen by the assistant referee who wasn't up with the play. The cross found Ashton but he blazed his shot high over the bar with the net gaping.
Gresley were pushing trying to give the score line a more accurate look when Goodfellow almost embarrassed Dodsley for the second time. The wandering keeper was caught well off his line but unfortunately Goodfellow's lob, again from just inside Sports half, sailed fractionally over the bar much to the keeper's relief.
Gresley should have been given a chance to chalk another goal off deep in time added on when Goodfellow picked out substitute Aaron Dillon but his header was blocked on the line and the ensuing scrumage on the line saw a Sports player clearly handle the ball but the referee, determined not to give Gresley anything, chose to ignore all the appeals and waved play on.
Gresley can be proud of themselves in playing on a par with their neighbours and but for some poor officiating the score could have a lot closer.
Manager's View
"The galling factor today was the quality of the goals we gave away. For maybe sixty minutes we did really, really well but all of the goals where sloppy from our point of view. They were a bit clinical with good movement but from our point of view a ball tossed into the box should be dealt with but we didn't today.
"It's unlike us to give away goals of that nature. We took the lead early in the second half and we had a real good spell. We started the second half really, really well but for me the momentum turned when the referee didn't give the penalty shout when he was clean through.
"For the rest of the second half the referee didn't give us a thing; there was a definite hand ball. But, credit to Mickleover as we tired they popped the ball around and opened us up and we had a bit of luck with the two penalties as well. I'm not saying we'd have won the game but we were hoping for a bit more consistency and evenness from the officials which we didn't get today.
"Marc Goodfellow had a good game today and is stepping up. Whether it's Marc or one of the others you can guarantee we'll receive a seven days from Mickleover it's just how it happens. You play a side a couple of leagues above you and if one or two stand out more often than not we get seven days in for one of the players.
"Marc did really well and his first goal was no fluke, he tried it again in the second half and he tried one like that in pre-season at Graham Street Prims. He's got a fantastic left foot and we've been asking for a bit more quality wise and he's given it us in the last couple of games and I hope we can continue with that.
"We've signed a new striker Dean Oliver before the game but unfortunately he's cup-tied. We beat off a couple of clubs from the Evo-Stik who were after his signature. We just felt that in our first ten or eleven games we were missing too many chances. The lads are doing okay bit okay isn't good enough. We want a bit more quality in the squad people who will come in and work hard. Royce Turville has had to come off with a calf injury again and we really need to give him a rest to get him properly fit so it's probably ideal timing to have signed Dean. He'll go into the squad next week and we'll see what he brings.
"We were just about to make substitutions today with a couple of players we'd lined up to come off and just as we'd lined them up Rob Spencer indicated that he was struggling and needed to come off and literally thirty seconds after that so did Jamie Barrett. He'd been playing with groin and hamstring problems of late and obviously it's caught up with him today. We'll have to assess them two during the week.
"It's been nice to have had three games in the competition and it's just frustrating that for a point in the second half we did have Mickleover on the rack a little bit and maybe if we'd have hung on the lead a little longer they may have got frustrated but in fairness to them the quality and the fitness was evident at the end and they missed two penalties as well both of which I thought were harsh. The first one was outside the box going on what the players told me and the second one was harsh as well bit they didn't put them away. The score line would have been harsh if those two penalties had been put away.
"If we'd have got one ourselves and the handball shout - we didn't get anything out of the officials in the second half - it would have been a little bit closer but credit to Mickleover and good luck to them in the next round.
"Jake Duffy was here today. He had his hearing the night we beat Shirebrook in the replay and he's suspended until the twenty seventh of October and a small fine and I think he got off lightly because he could have got a few months more. Jake will be available from late October. It's frustrating because when we signed him he was in the team from the start but we've had to deal with it. He's training to keep his fitness up and at the end of October we hope he'll be bursting to get a shirt."
