Evo-Stik NPL Division One South
Coles Lane, Sutton Coldfield
Saturday, 29th March 2014, 3.00pm
Roms Steal The Points
Gresley travelled over to Sutton Coldfield to face Romulus and could feel a little disappointed not to have returned home at least with a share of the points.
Four goals in the first 23 first half minutes saw the visitors lead twice in the game through goals from Marc Strzyzewski and Alex Steadman but Luke Shearer and Daniel O'Callaghan equalised for the home side to take both sides in at the break all square but Romulus snatched all the points with four minutes remaining as substitute Lee Smith latched on to a loose ball and smashed it into the roof of the net.
Gresley manager Martin Rowe stuck with almost the same squad which beat Kidsgrove last week with the only change being recent signing Serge Makoto replacing Rob Spencer.
On the 3G artificial surface and a stiff wind blowing into the backs Gresley started well forcing an early corner and Eric Graves bringing out an early save from Romulus keeper Paul Evans.
Romulus also had an early chance with O'Callaghan heading Tom Turton's cross narrowly over the bar. However, it was Gresley who took the lead. Graves slid a pass through to Makofo who flew down the right flank before putting over the perfect cross for Marc Strzyzewski to head home from the centre of the box.
That was almost the last action for the big defender as he damaged an ankle landing awkwardly a few minutes after scoring to be replaced by Mickey Lyons on 11 minutes.
That early change seemed to unsettle the visitors for a while and during that time Romulus levelled. A cross from the left found Shearer unmarked at the far post and he made no mistake with his header which went in off the upright.
A minute later Gresley were inches away from regaining the lead. A free kick from the left by Lyons flew through the box but eluded both Liam Guest and Mitch Hanson running in at the far post.
Gresley were dealt a second blow on 21 minutes when Guest, who had early landed heavily on his shoulder had to be replaced by John Guy who was returning after his recent suspension and minutes later they had regained the lead. Another superb run down the right by Makofo ended with a cross which Steadman drilled home at the near post.
Things were all square in less than sixty seconds because straight from the re-start Romulus capitalised on a slip in the Gresley backline and O'Callaghan strode through and coolly slipped the ball past the exposed keeper Mats Morch.
Gresley then created two decent chances to take the lead yet again. The first came from a long free kick by Morch which Hanson met solidly but his header flew over the bar. Then Makofo almost got on the end of a loose ball as Evans failed to hold onto a low shot from Steadman.
As the first half was drawing to an end Hanson was unlucky once more to see his perfectly met header from Lucas Harrison's corner scrape the top of the bar.
The opening moments of the second period was a fairly even affair but Gresley was handed a golden chance to once more take the lead. Steadman was scythed down in the area and referee Scott Postin didn't hesitate as he awarded a penalty kick. An incredible seven penalties in six consecutive games have been awarded in games involving Gresley in the last few weeks but this time it was in their favour and not the opposition. Steadman chose to take the kick himself but a combination of the keeper choosing the right way to dive and perhaps not the hardest struck kick enabled Evans, diving full length to his left, to keep the scores level. That miss would come back to bite them later in the game.
Guy had a half chance with ten minutes remaining but his sweetly struck shot whistled the wrong side of the upright.
Gresley seemed to tire in the final minutes and Romulus' late substitutes with fresh legs began to cause problems as their side started to get on top and it was one of those substitutes, Reid, who brought out a fine save from Morch with a shot which the keeper did well to hang onto at his near post.
Reid tested Morch again minutes later with a strongly hit shot but the young Norwegian was up to the task saving well. However, Morch could do nothing about Romulus' third goal. A corner from the left was not cleared and the ball eventually landed nicely for Smith who rifled the ball home into the roof of the net from close in.
It was a sickening blow both for the Gresley players and the travelling faithful who deserved to see their side take at the very least a deserved share of the points home with them.
Manager's View
"It was another game which we lost in the last few minutes but to be fair to the players we lost Marc Strzyzewski after I think ten minutes with a bad ankle injury - he's been doing well. Then five minutes later we lost Liam Guest which was unfortunate. We got John Guy on and then he picked a very bad toe injury up on his left foot but we thought he could last the game.
"We tweaked things a bit by bringing Brad Wells off and putting Paolo Piliero on and I was quietly confident that we could still win the game. We missed a penalty. Alex Steadman didn't hit the ball hard enough which was unfortunate as it would have put us back in the lead.
"John Guy was really struggling and we need to bring him out of the back four and obviously Romulus piled the pressure on. It was a bit unfortunate but that's how it's been going for us this season.
"Wayne Thornhill said before the game that you get judged on how many crosses you get into the box. Serge Mokofo put two crosses in and we scored two goals. Unfortunately we couldn't get the ball to him enough. Every time we did get the ball to him in the second half there were three players around him. It was an impressive full debut.
"In the second half we allowed Romulus to bully us. When you haven't got guys like Liam Guest who is a six footer and Strez who is also a six footer you are relying on Jamie Barret and Mitch Hanson to do all the work.
"Jamie didn't have the best of games unfortunately but to be fair he wasn't feeling too well either today - it was one of those days.
"I thought Mitch played very well today. Lucas Harrison wasn't far behind him, Eric Graves has worked hard in midfield and it was nearly up front. We just couldn't seem to get the ball up to them today. Romulus played three in midfield which made it very difficult for us. That's why we had to change it in the second half.
"Kieran O'Connell has been touch and go all week and it was nice to have him back and we were hoping to get him a bit of pitch time today but with the injuries we had we couldn't do that. We've got a rest now so that will give time for Strez to get fit again. Liam to recover from his shoulder injury and John his injured toe.
"In hindsight I'm happy we haven't got a game next Saturday because we've picked up quite a few injuries giving them a bit of time to recover. We play Bedworth away a week on Tuesday so they will get a rest now."
