Match Report  |  Gresley FC vs Romulus

A bad day at the office was manager Dave McDermott’s assessment of the game and anyone witnessing it could hardly disagree.

Gresley were without the injured Conor Gater as McDermott named an almost unchanged side whereas Romulus made 7 changes to when the two sides met previously at the beginning of August.

However, if Gresley had capitalised on just two of the many chances created in the first half they could easily been two goals clear at the break.

These misses and some bewildering decisions from the referee led to Gresley’s defeat at the Moat Ground. There was also a goal from an offside position and a clear pull of a Gresley shirt in the area waved away.

Gresley were lacklustre to be honest and allowed Romulus to press them back especially in the second half.

The home side went close on 6 minutes with Joe Haines lobbing the ball over the keeper Billy Spink but also over the bar.

On 13 minutes Gresley took the lead when Haines’ free kick from the left was headed back into the box to where Nehemia Zazi was on hand to slip the ball home.

Gresley almost doubled their advantage on 22 minutes as Zazi’s flicked header came down to Mark Potts who beat his man on the edge of the area only to see his lob fly agonisingly wide of the far post.

Yet another chance came and went for Gresley when Zazi was put through on goal but Spink stood up well to block the final shot.

Romulus were level deep into time added on at the end of the first half. The tricky Simeone Colbourne skipped into the area and was brought down by Jake McIntosh. The diminutive forward’s shot was saved by Ben Allsop but as he tried to gather the loose ball Colbourne reacted quickly to poke it home.

Former Moatman Dean Rathbone brought out a fine save from Allsop tipping the ball over the bar as the visitors started to press forward.

On 73 minutes Romulus took the lead when Jordan Nadat, half a yard offside, was allowed to continue his run down the right before putting his shot out of the reach of Allsop.

Six minutes later Haines was just inches away from equalising for Gresley as his shot fizzed by the far post.

As the game drew to a conclusion referee Mr Doyle made another poor and bewildering decision which confused both sides and onlookers alike. Had he awarded a foul for Romulus or was it Gresley? Players were asking for clarification, so the referee consulted his assistant but still the decision was confusing. He placed the ball down and indicted a free kick for Gresley, but no the ball was to be returned to Romulus. One Romulus player out of frustration kicked the ball back down the pitch towards his own keeper receiving a yellow card for his trouble.

The ball was given to Gresley’s Haines who appeared to be sending the ball deep into the Romulus half but no, only to Allsop who hammered the ball down to his opposite number.

Thankfully after 8 minutes of added on time the referee ended the game which had descended into a shambles caused by poor officiating.