Match Report  |  Uttoxeter Town vs Gresley FC

This was a tough encounter for Gresley who didn't look anywhere near their best against a determined and hardworking Uttoxeter Town.

Gresley manager Damion Beckford-Quailey was short of a few players due to holiday, illness, injury and family commitments but that said should have had the depth in his squad to get the better of this opposition.

The visitors looked leggy especially in the first half in which the hosts gave as good as they got but Gresley's plight was not helped by conceding two soft goals and collecting a few injuries giving Beckford-Quailey cause for concern not only for Saturday's trip to Halesowen but more importantly for the opening game of the season against Rugby next Saturday.

Town's first goal came after just 4 minutes when a long ball over the top beat the defence and Liam Sowter took full advantage slotting the ball past the exposed keeper Ben Gough.

Gresley struck back 6 minutes later when Town keeper Ben James struggled to deal with a ball into the box under pressure from Courtney Meade leaving Tendai Chitiza to tap the ball into the net.

Meade then brought out a good save from James as he struck a shot that was well dealt with by the keeper.

A disappointing moment, unfortunately not the only one during the game, came when the referee failed to deal with what was a blatant two handed push into the chest of Reece Morris as be battled for the ball near the bye line. The push caused Morris to stumble and sustain an injury to his ankle ending his involvement in the game.

Gresley were almost behind again in the final minutes of the first half when Jake Carlisle brought a player down in the area. Luke Lewis took the resulting spot kick but was denied by Gough who chose the correct way diving to his left to push the ball away.

The visitors were coming back into the game as the first half ended and took the lead almost on the whistle when substitute Ben Harris hit a superb shot from distance which beat James.

Gresley were inches away from extending their advantage within a couple of minutes into the second half when a cross was met by Harris whose powerful header flew just wide of the far post. Town came back with a low shot which Gough dealt with very well.

Town levelled on the hour mark and again it was a soft goal to give away. The visitors were making a rare trip out of their own half when a long high ball was headed backwards by the unfortunate substitute Jamie Barrett and Sowter took the gift slipping through again to beat Gough comfortably.

The game was starting to get a little feisty which should have been dealt with earlier in the game by the referee but was allowed to continue causing some rash tackling. One such tackle hacked down Chitiza, not for the first time, which looked inside Town's area but it was either not seen or ignored by the referee. The assistant indicated that offence had occurred outside the area. Whether it was or wasn't was not the important thing about the episode but that Chitiza was another casualty who had to limp off the pitch.

Gresley went close again when a free kick on the left saw Toby Fura's shot into the box fly through a crowd of players and come crashing back off the far post.

Minutes later Fura was given another chance this time the free kick was on the edge of the area. While the shot was powerfully struck it was straight at James.

The final chance of any note came with just five minutes remaining. Fura slipped a pass through to Harris who dragged his shot wide of the near post.

Overall a draw was probably the correct result as Town fought hard and defended well but what was a great concern was more names being added to the increasing injury list as the season rapidly approaches.