Match Report  |  Gresley Rovers vs Shepshed Dynamo

By Luke Nurden

Marc Strzyzewski started life back at The Moat Ground with a huge victory following Jamie Sleigh’s second half strike.

The Moatmen managed to keep a tight lead with help by three standout saves by debutant Harvey Woodward.

This win lifts the Rovers out of the drop zone up to 16th in the league.

An opening quarter of an hour saw an end to end start to the match, with both sides defence preventing any chance on goal.

A first chance for the away side found Shepshed with an open shot eight yards out, with visiting fans starting to celebrate, Harvey Woodward pulled of an incredible save on the right side of him to push the ball out for a corner kick.

With the minutes ticking down to half-time, Gresley started to put pressure on Shepshed’s defence, which paid off as Kieran O’Connell found himself open down the right side of the box however the shot on target was saved by Brandon Ganley.

Christopher Jones took his chances from 25 yards out moments before the half-time whistle was blown, but the long-range effort ran wide left of the away side’s goal by the distance of inches.

Jamie Sleigh found an avenue through Shepshed’s back line, but an effort on the edge of the box trickled wide, left of the goal.

A powerful run down the left flank by John Guy pulled a ball across the box to Sleigh but the danger was sniffed out by Shepshed.

A ball over the top of the away side’s back line was touched down by Sleigh who buried it passed Ganley with an emphatic finish.

A quick restart by Shepshed caught Gresley off guard as Woodward kept the Moatmen in the lead with a strong save against a close-range shot.

Jack Ekins-Tyson drove into the box and was taken down leading to a Gresley penalty, however Sleigh’s strike from 12 yards out was powered into the crossbar.

Shepshed saw their opportunity to counter following the penalty miss, but Woodward pulled off another surreal save to keep out Keiran Cummings’ low driven shot.