Evo-Stik NPL Division One South
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Saturday, 22nd March 2014, 3.00pm
Steadman In Five Star Show
It's a pity that the talking point of this game instead of being the superb performance of Alex Steadman and his five goals was the performance of the match official.
Gresley must have run over a lot of black cats at some time because today they had two penalties awarded against them making it now six penalties in five consecutive games. The first was somewhat dubious but the second was blatantly wrong. Defender Liam Guest had his back to the ball as it apparently struck his arm but it was still adjudged as intentional by referee Gareth Hubbard which infuriated players and supporters alike.
Matt Haddrell's spot kick, his second of the game made the score closer than it deserved as Gresley dominated most of the action.
Bradley Wells was handed his first start for the club and new signing Serge Makofo was on the bench alongside Mickey Lyons who had missed the last two games.
Anyone who had travelled to the Seddon Stadium in January would remember how Gresley dominated the game between the two sides but came away with nothing to show for it as the home side scored two late goals. So they were hoping to put that injustice right today.
Gresley started brightly with Steadman forcing a good block at his near post by keeper Daniel Read but his second attempt could not be stopped. Eric Graves found Steadman with his pass and it was finished coolly as he slipped the ball past Read and into the far bottom corner.
The first controversial moment came when Wells was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area although it was hotly disputed by the Gresley players. Haddrell chose to take the spot kick hammering the ball straight down the middle giving Mats Morch no chance.
Gresley went close to regaining the lead a couple of minutes later when Lucas Harrison hit a tremendous free kick from just outside the area which Read did well to tip over the bar.
Wells then went close to scoring when he met Steadman's cross from the left but his header was saved by the keeper at his near post.
Gresley's second goal came through the persistence of Royce Turville who forced Read into a mistake on the bye-line. Turville then fed the ball into the box to Steadman and although the ball would not come from under his feet easily giving a defender a chance to try and get a tackle in he managed to force the ball into the net.
The second half started in the best way possible for Gresley. The clock was barely showing two minutes when Steadman raced into the area and despite the attention of a defender he managed to get his shot off. The effort looked to have been saved by the keeper diving to his left but somehow he fumbled the ball over his own body and behind him into the net.
Just before the hour mark Gresley made it four and it was that man Steadman again. A free kick from the left by Harrison was headed onto the bar by Guest but Steadman reacted quickly to smash the ball past Read.
Steadman completed his purple spell when he left the Kidsgrove backline for dead racing through before beating Read.
A rare attempt on goal by the visitors came when Jordan Johnson had his shot blocked by Morch at his near post. The action was quickly down at the other end where Harrison stung the palms of Read who had to have two attempts at grabbing the ball. Spencer then blistered the paint on the top of the bar as he blasted his shot over from substitute Serge Mikofo's pass. Wells then provided a cross which Zibusiso Nyatito met but his shot was saved by Read but the ball evaded Mikofo at the far post as he raced in.
Athletic scored the second of the afternoon when Jordan Johnson hit a dipping volley which Morch seemed to have covered but as he dived to his right the ball went through his hands and into the net.
With just five minutes remaining the second controversial moment occurred. Substitute Paolo Piliero had just had a shot blocked by the outstretched legs of Read and within seconds the ball was down at the other end. A shot from the left corner hit Guest who had turned his back and it apparently hit his arm. The referee harshly adjudged that Guest had intentionally handled the ball and awarded another spot kick for the visitors. Haddrell repeated his earlier effort smashing the ball down the middle.
That goal made the game look far closer than it was in reality as Gresley had reduced their visitors to just one shot on goal from open play.
Man-of-the match Steadman became the first player to have hit five goals in one game for Gresley FC. Gresley Rovers legend Gordon Duggins was the last player to score five league goals from open play way back in 1968.
Manager's View
Wayne Thornhill
"It was an excellent performance from Alex Steadman today. We have been playing him upfront but he is a wide player who normally plays on the left hand side. He's actually been playing with an injury today so all credit to him for getting through as many minutes as he did and he's come up with the goods - five goals.
"It's brilliant for his confidence and if we'd have had that all season we'd have certainly been in contention if nothing else.
"Brad Wells was given minutes at Carlton and had some good touched so we thought today would be a good chance to have a real good look at him for an hour. He's not completely match fit but we are going to work on that in training this week.
"Serge Makofo was registered late last night I think. He should some good touches but he's not match fit as he's not played since January and that was over in Cyprus. I don't know what level that was but he certainly showed some good touches. He was bright on the ball so we'll have a look at him in training and try and get him involved again next Saturday.
"I wasn't sure about the referees' decision for some of the penalties we've had recently. I think both today's penalties were questionable; obviously we haven't got the use of replays so we can't have another good look at it. But if we take that out of our game we are defending reasonably well, not quite as well as I'd like. We are limiting the mistakes, we are talking more and organising so from that we can improve so it's a good base to kick on now for the rest of the season and finish strongly.
"Young Lucas Harrison had a rash moment last Tuesday so unfortunately he will miss two games for his red card. It's a learning curve for him so we've had a chat and think about his situation and he'll have another chance before the end of the season.
"John Guy, it's a great time for him to return. He's played well all season so it's been a nice rest for him, not through the right circumstances but a nice rest.
"Today was not a dirty game. They were competitive. They have got to be because they are at the bottom of the league and want to stay in the league so they've got to be competitive. I don't think we are a dirty side in any way whatsoever. I think we need to compete a little bit more as regard the physical side of the game!
"I don't think the referees have been great this season, across the board and across the games and I'm not talking about the penalties. I think they've been particularly tough on us at times and it's not just us. The referees are learning and trying to improve and raise the quality of refereeing so we've just got to work with it."
