Match Report  |  Gresley FC vs Chasetown

A dogged and workman like performance gave Gresley only their second league win of the new year with the last being on January 21st against Carlton Town.

The Moatmen had to dig deep after losing goalkeeper Rob Peet after 30 minutes but that misfortune seemed to galvanise his team mates and they went on to grab a valuable three points.

Peet was brought back into the side with Max Atkin still injured and Alvin Jarvis, Tom Manship were all given starts.

For the first thirty minutes or so both sides seemed to cancel each other out with Gresley defending for the most part as Chasetown pressed.

However, on 30 minutes Peet jumped to comfortably collect a high ball but then appeared to crumple in agony on landing. After a lengthy pause Peet was stretchered off with a suspected ankle injury.

While Peet received attention, the decision was made for Matt Melbourne to take the keeper's jersey with Laithan Hammond replacing him up front.

Chasetown saw the situation as an advantage and they tried to apply pressure on the stand in keeper only to find Gresley in determined mood as the provided Melbourne the cover he needed in front of him which frustrated Chasetown to the point of being shown two yellow cards in the space of two minutes at the end of the first half. Indeed, it was Gresley who finished the half with a decent chance with Manship firing a free kick narrowly past the near post from 22 yards.

Gresley went close again within five minutes of the start of the second half with Stevenson heading Manship's corner from the right straight at visiting keeper Curtis Pond.

The home side was almost handed another chance seconds later when a poor pass was intercepted deep into the Chasetown half by Leandro Browne but the chance was waisted as he blazed his shot well over the bar with only Pond to beat.

However, Gresley didn't have to wait long for their next chance when two minutes later Dexter Morris-Clarke was hacked down inside the area giving the referee the easy decision of awarding a penalty. Manship took the kick firing the shot just inside the post. Pond chose the right way to dive but was beaten by the pace of Manship's shot, his first goal for the club.

Gresley were doing a sterling job with every player working hard preventing more pressure from the visitors from being fruitful.

Melbourne did well to punch away an effort from the visitors and he did even better on 75 minutes when diving to his left he pushed former Moatman Jack Langston's free kick away for a corner.

With the clock running down, Gresley had one more chance to add to the score. Substitute Keenan King hit a shot on the turn from the edge of the area but Pond was down smartly to gather the low shot.

The relief of getting that vital win was seen on faces of players, management and supporters with them all leaving the Moat Ground with smiles on their faces at last.