Evo-Stik NPL Division One South
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Tuesday, 18th September 2012, 7.45pm
Gresley Hand Sheffield All Three Points
Gresley fell to their second home defeat of the season after handing Sheffield the points due mainly to some poor defending.
Two changes were made to the side that won at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday with Gary Hateley being preferred to young George Woodward in goal and Craig Attwood replacing Gareth Langford in midfield.
The Moatmen made a good start putting the visitors under some very early pressure but found themselves a goal down with just four minutes on the clock. Hateley was well out of his area and Chris Adams looked up saw the opportunity coolly lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the net.
Gresley came back forcing two corners but it was Sheffield who went close with Adams firing wide from the left.
The closest Gresley came to a chance came on 32 minutes but Richard Hanslow's shot went straight into keeper Liam Flynn's midriff. Hanslow was involved again as Gresley got back on terms four minutes later. Hanslow put a ball through to Phil Massingham who then steered his low from the right past Flynn.
Two minutes later Gresley took the lead when Hanslow found Marc Goodfellow who strode forward before hitting a low shot past Flynn and into the bottom far corner of the net.
If the Moat Ground faithful thought the three points were there for the taking they were to be sadly disappointed as the visitors took control of the second half and claimed all three points.
Sheffield showed their intent on 47 minutes with Andy Gascoigne leaving Hateley rooted to the spot only to see his terrific shot come back off the bar.
On 53 minutes the sides were level again when some sustained pressure from Sheffield saw Hateley race off his line to the edge of the area to try and deal with a high ball but he hardly connected and the ball fell nicely to Aaron Martin who smashed the ball back into the gaping unguarded goal.
Goodfellow gave the crowd a moment of hope when he noticed Flynn slightly off his line and almost from the halfway line had the keeper scrambling back to tip the effort over the bar.
Sadly it was a false dawn as Sheffield took a firm grip of the rest of the game. Steve Woolley's cross was headed wide by Gascoigne and Adams making a run down the right but hitting his shot just wide. Jared Stevens then stormed through the middle but hit his shot wide.
Gresley had just one chance in the final section of the game which came on 71 minutes when a cross was headed into the box by Hanslow but Massingham couldn't connect.
Sheffield's third goal came on 77 minutes. A slip by Hanslow just outside the visitors' area saw them sweep forward and substitute Shaquille McKenzie was given time and space to fire the ball past Hateley.
The visitors could have added to Gresley's misery in the final ten minutes but McKenzie shot over when well placed, Woolley was then allowed to run through the middle unchallenged but with just Hateley to beat, fired wide. Woolley almost punished some further poor defending latching onto a poor clearance by Hateley but again squandered the chance firing wide.
Manager's View
"We've been punished without a doubt through some poor defending. It was comical at times particularly in the second half - Keystone Kops in the last quarter of the game.
"Having worked very hard to get ourselves in front in the first half against a very, very good side, who making no bones about it, outplayed us in every department for good chunks of the game tonight.
"We got ourselves in front and we conceded a ridiculous second goal and Gary Hateley as held his hand up for that and there were a few other issues with Gary in the second half and he needs to address that very quickly. He's got two keepers breathing down his neck now not just Tom Gutteridge but the young lad who played on Saturday who did very well. Gary will take it on the chin and address that.
"The third goal, we put Mickey Lyons on to try and get the ball down and play some football because we were struggling to get to grips with it. He played a lovely passage of play rolls the ball in to Richard Hanslow who didn't just get hold of the ball and ten seconds later it's in our net - naive defending.
"We've just had a bit of a debate in the dressing room about other stuff and without the cheap nature of those two goals we may have pinched something tonight. Perhaps a win or a draw but we'll never know. They missed a lot of chances as well.
"Let's get some realism here. This is our third league in three seasons and we've given most of the lads the opportunity to come through and do alright. There were some gaps in terms of where we need to be. Five league games in; we've played four of the play-off sides from last year but nobody is getting too down beat and disheartened. We got gaps we need to address in terms of tactical play and our decision making on the bench as well.
"Player wise we've got issues to address in terms of maybe our fitness, shape and tactics. Five games in we are not getting carried away. I wasn't here for the Newcastle game but tonight they were a good side and maybe it's a bit of awaking in terms of the ruthless nature of this league.
"We've got a squad that is good enough. We are ahead of plan at the moment. We are through two rounds of the FA Cup, one round of the Trophy which is not a bad start to the season. People here have got to get realistic. This club has come a long way in a short time and if anyone thinks we are going to take sides apart week in week out and winning the games we've won in the last three years. This is a very, very good league. We don't need to make major changes, there are one or two areas we need to strengthen if the players become available but then they've got to come for the money we have to offer and that's a challenge in this league for the quality of player out there.
"We'll have to assess Michael Nottingham's injury. He's picked up a bit of a dead leg so hopefully it's not too serious. These things can linger on a bit from experience. We think Phil Massingham has picked a dead leg up as well so we'll have to assess that and see how he is at training on Thursday.
"We've got a big game coming up on Saturday and a chance to bounce back. It's a home game against Stafford Rangers and we go into this one as under dogs and we'll try and bounce back from tonight.
"We've got a honest group of lads in the dressing room and the supporters can rest assured that these lads care and they are grafting and we know that there are some issues. Maybe we're not fit enough maybe we're not organised enough and we'll address them and try our very best which is something we always do. If it sometimes comes up short against good sides like Sheffield then so be it.
"We go to Carlton and grind a result out, we go to Leek and grind a result out and ground a result out at Sutton. We're not just here to make the numbers up and we'll continue on occasion to surprise a few people."
