FA Cup with Budweiser 2nd Round Qualifying
St James Park, Brackley, Northamptonshire
Saturday, 28th September 2013, 3.00pm
Gresley Earn FA Cup Replay
Gresley returned from Northampton shire with a well earned replay which will see them in the hat for Monday's FA Cup draw.
A free kick from Glenn walker twenty minutes from the end of the match seemed to have given the home side the edge but Gresley responded magnificently and two minutes later they were level when Marc Goodfellow blasted his shot home from the spot after Kieran had been brought down by Town keeper Billy Turley.
Gresley manager Martin Rowe made changes to the side which had beaten Sutton Coldfield Town the previous Monday bringing Jamie Barrett in alongside Marc Strzyzewski at the heart of the defence and with Mitch Hanson having work commitments Matt Roome came in at right back and James Jepson took the midfield slot with Danny Holmes on the bench.
As was expected Town, flying high in the Conference North, were soon applying the pressure forcing numerous early corners but Gresley held firm and Town were reduced to just one shot when Steve Diggin fired wide.
Gresley began to settle and it was the visitors who had the first attempt on target when Dean Oliver fired a low shot which Turley held on to.
Another wave of pressure from Town was repelled and again the only shot of note from the home side, this time from Walker, flew well over the bar.
The second half started where the first had finished with Town applying pressure but again the Gresley defence dealt with the threat comfortably. Town should have taken the lead when Walker found himself in space at the far post but his shot went straight at Ross Etheridge.
The home side took the lead when the referee awarded them a dubious free kick just outside the area. Walker, who arguably should not have been on the pitch after his tussle with O'Connell in the first half, hit a low shot which appeared to go through the wall and into the bottom corner of the net giving Etheridge no chance.
Gresley to their great credit didn't drop their heads and went straight from the restart up to the other end where O'Connell, bursting into the area, was cynically brought down by Turley who surprisingly found the referee Mr Taylor in a lenient mood showing only a yellow card for the foul. Goodfellow's low shot from the spot found the back of the net despite Turley getting a hand to the ball.
It was nothing more than the visitors deserved after a solid display and indeed they could have snatched a memorable win when Eric Graves's run down the right ended with a shot which Turley managed to turn around the near post for a corner kick.
Manager's View
"I'm absolutely gutted! The decisions just didn't go our way. I don't know what it is about this season but decisions don't seem to go for us.
"In the first twenty minutes it was all them but we told the players to expect it and that's what happened and as long as we didn't concede in the first twenty minutes we had a chance.
"After that we started to get a hold on the game and played a lot better and began to get a few shots off and we did well. Come the second half I felt we were doing well again and started to play a bit more.
"I felt their goal was a bit of a joke. Their lad just fell over no-one touch him and he went down and the referee gave it. Most teams would have thought 'oh no!' but credit to the lads they got up and rolled their socks up and went again and Kieran O'Connell got in and was pulled down by the goalkeeper which I thought was an automatic red card but I've just been told by the official that the ball was going out of play so it was not an automatic red - it was a bit frustrating.
"I thought the players showed great character and team spirit today and everyone did their jobs. I though Sam Grice played well again today and he's proving to be a key player for us. We've got a game on Tuesday and I think we will have to slightly change our approach and be a bit more attacking minded.
"When you come to places like this you know you are not going to have much of the ball but defensively we did well today.
"The player who scored should not have been on the pitch. It happened right in front of us. The first incident with Kieran their guy tried to punch him and fortunately missed and on the second occasion he just pulled Kieran down with both hands and the referee saw it did nothing again! I find it very hard but let's look forward to Tuesday now and obviously we are hoping for a big gate and we will need our supporters behind us and push us on, get the victory and into the next round.
"When you look at this pitch it is beautiful for playing football on unfortunately our pitch is slightly different. Yes, they are in for a rude awakening!
"We thought Rob Spencer was going to be okay but he could still feel his hamstring in the warm-up so we weren't going to risk it and on Tuesday he should be a lot better.
"We had a few missing today. Liam Guest is cup-tied but Mitch Hanson will be available on Tuesday. Matt Roome is at university so he can't make the game so it's likely that it will be Mitch. I thought Matt played well today. He hasn't played for a couple of games and it took him some time to come back after losing a few teeth but I thought we saw the Matt Roome of old.
"It's hard to pick man-of-the-match but I'd go for Sam Grice. His attitude is absolutely brilliant and in the last ten minutes he won a fifty-fifty ball deep in our half and that's what you want someone who is prepared to put a foot in but it was a good all round team performance today."
