Match Report  |  Kidsgrove Athletic vs Gresley FC

Gresley ended their pre-season games in defeat at Kidsgrove Athletic.

Manager Gary Norton admitted afterwards that his side had been well beaten by a well organised, strong and skilful Grove side and the game has shown him where his players need to be and what needs to be worked on as they face their first league game in two weeks’ time.

Norton was still several players short and this was made worse as Lucas Harrison hobbled off the pitch in the first half.
As has been seen in previous games the second half changes disrupted what had been a decent first period, but the hosts took hold of the second half especially and deserved their win.

One disappointment was the inconsistency of the referee with Dexter Morris-Clarke being asked to leave the pitch during the second half by the referee although his tackle won the ball as sweet as a nut.

The hosts put in equally ‘robust’ challenges with the offender being given only a word from the official. To be honest, the referee made the right decision asking Morris-Clarke to be substituted after a poor tackle in the first half, but the second half decision was a poor one by the referee.

To make things worse substitute Kieran O’Connell was on the end of a dangerous tackle that if it had connected fully could have left the front man with a serious injury again just a word from the referee much to the anger of Norton.

Gresley took the lead on 5 minutes when Eric Graves made a fine run into the Grove area only to have his shot blocked. However, Alex Steadman picked up the rebound and coolly slotted the ball past Krystian Burzynski.

The visitors went close to doubling their advantage 7 minutes later. A defence splitting pass from Callum Riddell sent Martin Smyth racing forward only to fire his shot over the bar.

Seconds later the normally prolific Anthony Malbon beat the offside trap but, with Gresley keeper Jack Livesey racing out towards him, steered his shot wide of the far post.

Kidsgrove levelled on 27 minutes from a good footballing move. A swift move down the left by Alex Lingard ended with a delightful cross over to the far post for Pete Willams to sidefoot into the net.
Smyth then tried his luck with a chip which Burzynski held under his bar.

Norton made changes for the second half and it seemed to disrupt his side as Kidsgrove took full control.

Another well structed goal saw Kidsgrove take the lead on 52 minutes. A low cross from the left by Lingard was cleverly stepped over by Jordan Cole leaving Williams with a clear sight of goal and he drilled a low shot into the far bottom corner with Livesey stranded.

Three minutes later Livesey was alert when the unmarked Adam Freeland was picked out from a free kick but his shot, looking certain to end in the back of the net, was blocked by the outstretched leg of the Gresley keeper.

Gresley went close just after the hour mark when a corner from the left was half cleared by a defender, but the ball struck a Gresley player and deflected narrowly wide of the near post.

Kidsgrove’s third goal was a fortunate one. A ball played across the Gresley area saw Jamie Barrett and home substitute Chris Budrys appear to tangle legs, but the referee harshly deemed that Barrett had brought the Kidsgrove player down and awarded a spot kick. Williams completed his hat-trick by sending substitute keeper Ben Allsop the wrong way.

Kidsgrove’s fourth goal was a gift. A back pass was miss kicked by Allsop and the ball landed at the feet of a home player who slid the ball to substitute Will Saxton who fired the ball home.

Norton knows now what his side need to work hard on as today’s game provided the level of opposition likely to be faced as the matches now become important not only to himself but to the players and supporters.