Evo-Stik NPL Division One South
The Hawthorns, Brigg
Saturday, 16th March 2013, 3.00pm
Nadat At The Double
For any neutrals in the crowd this game would have proved to be worth every penny of the entrance fee with goal mouth action at both ends but for the travelling Gresley faithful it was a roller coaster of a game that prised out every emotion.
There was good football which produced good goals but there was also scary defending that in the end could have seen Gresley travel back to South Derbyshire with nothing to show for their endeavour.
Three goals in the first fifteen minutes saw Gresley take a two-one lead until the home side levelled just before the break. Gresley regained the lead early in the second half but were pegged back on the hour mark but managed to hang on to stretch their unbeaten league run to five games.
Gresley were forced into changes with Marc Goodfellow absent with a foot injury sustained at work, Danny Holmes occupied with the Derby County academy, Gareth Langford missing with work commitments and Ryan Walker due to personal circumstances.
Sam Woods was drafted in at right back with reserve team lads Sam Grice and Ben Minshull called into the squad.
After leaving a very wet South Derbyshire it was a pleasant surprise to see the playing surface at The Hawthorns in fairly good condition and no rain to dampen spirits after a long drive.
The visitors started brightly and they took the lead when Dean Rathbone put Richard Hanslow through with a superb pass. The striker took the ball in his stride before firing across Town keeper Miles Fenty and into the far bottom corner.
Gresley doubled their lead five minutes later. This time it was Mickey Lyons who picked out Hanslow also with a superb pass. Hanslow found Royce Turville with his cross from the right whose shot was finished by Jordan Nadat at the far post.
However, Gresley were caught cold almost from the re-start when Danny Buttle beat the back line and sent a low cross into the middle where Paul Grimes in acres of space was able to pick his spot to beat Gresley keeper Gary Hateley.
Turville was the provider of a good through ball to Jamie Barrett but unfortunately the final shot went over the bar. A minute later Turville laid the ball back for Hanslow whose curling shot just flew the wrong side of the far post.
With the first half drawing to an end Brigg went close to levelling but Hateley produced a great block to deny Bruno Holden's shot from finding the back of the net. However, Hateley could do nothing to prevent Brigg's next effort from levelling the score. Again Buttle found space on the left and he sent over a fine cross which the unmarked Holden powered into the net from 8 yards.
Gresley took the lead on 52 minutes. A corner from the right by Rathbone was met by Nadat who had raced into the area before heading an unstoppable ball past Fenty for his sixth goal in three games.
Another series of corners from Gresley almost ended with one of them being put into his own net by defender Mark Dudley but the ball looped just over the bar.
Brigg's equaliser was slightly fortunate. A free kick was pushed away by Hateley and the attempted clearance by Marc Strzyzewski appeared to strike the back of Barrett and the ball fell nicely for Grimes who blasted the ball back through a crowd and into the net.
Gresley's back line were caught again soon after when Grimes found Holden who hit a tremendous shot which Hateley did well to tip over the bar. From the resultant corner a shot from the home side fizzed the wrong side of the far post.
Brigg started to apply some pressure on the Gresley defence and a good block from Strzyzewski at his near post stopped Brigg from taking the lead. Indeed they should have gone in front or at least made a better effort when Liam Davis was put through only to fire his shot woefully wide with only Hateley to beat.
Hateley ensured a share of the points making a top drawer save from Grimes shot who had been set up nicely by Brigg substitute James Windle.
Manager's View
"We saw the worst and the best of Gresley today which is more often than not, we don't make it easy on ourselves do we?
"Before the game there were some trials and tribulations before we even got here. Ryan walker dropped out of the squad this morning because he's had his car stolen. All he his belongings were in it including his phone and his wallet so he was trying to resolve that. So that wasn't the best start.
"We then had some of the staff and one of the players involved in a car crash on the M1 at junction 28 so if you were caught up in that on the way it was one of our cars. Hannah Dingley braked and someone has run into the back of her car.
"Sam Woods was in the car and suffered a bit of whiplash so we had to assess him before the game. He was struggling with his neck to be honest and he had to come off in the end but he put in a brave performance but unfortunately his injury got the better of him and he had to come off.
"On top of that we were without Gareth Langford and then arguably one of our best players in recent weeks Marc Goodfellow trod on a nail at work on Thursday and Danny Holmes is with the Derby County under 16 academy so we were very, very stretched today. We had fairly limited options on the bench and that was before we started.
"I thought the guys started fantastically well going into a two goal lead but once we got that second goal we needed to keep that for a few minutes but they scored almost immediately after the second had gone in.
"The first thirty minutes we knocked it around really well and played some really good stuff, we were linking with the midfield and front men really well and were defending solid and then as tends to be the case we had a mad ten of fifteen minute spell when we were giving the ball away a bit too easily and had a few near things and then they score on half time to make it two-two.
"Second half we got ourselves back in front and their third goal was a bit comical. The ball was ricocheting around our box. I think Marc Strzyzewski headed it against the back of Jamie Barrett but we had chances to clear but we didn't and Paul Grimes did what he does best and put it in for three-three.
"Then, if I'm honest, the ascendency went to the hosts and we had the best and worst of Gary Hateley then. His kicking once or twice put us under pressure. I've just suggested that he spends an hour on his kicking rather than his pecs down the gym this week. But in fairness Gary has made two top, top drawer saves. Grimes squared it to colleagues waiting and it looked a certain goal and Gary showed why he's such a good keeper and made two fantastic saves. When Gary does make a mistake kicking a lot of people get on his back pretty quickly but not many people around me where congratulating him on the two saves which kept us in the game and earned us a point which is disappointing.
"Whether it was a point gained or two dropped depends how you see the game, and which half you're looking at. If you look at how we started the game and raced into a two goal lead and then go three-two ahead you are disappointed to come away with just a point but what you saw particularly late in the game and the two big saves Gary had to make you'd think okay a point is a good result. It could have gone either way for both sides with either side winning it but on the balance of the game a point is a fair result for both sides."
