Match Photos
Gresley Rovers vs Mangotsfield United
Last September Gresley returned from a visit to Mangotsfield licking their wounds after being well and truly beaten 7-0.
And, from the early chances, it looked as if Gresley were in for another tough afternoon as the visitors applied much of the pressure in the first half.
As early as 5 minutes they were testing the Gresley goal but the ball was comfortably taken by James Lindley.
On 9 minutes a testing cross saw Lindley punching the ball away from danger and six minutes later the Gresley defence failed to clear a corner and the dangerous David Seal fortunately put his shot wide of the post when well placed.
Seal came close again on 19 minutes when a mistake by a Gresley defender allowed him to shoot on target but it brought a fine save from Lindley who got a hand to the shot and deflected the ball away. The ball flew into the air and Ellis Willmot headed the ball back towards goal but it landed on the roof of the net.
The Field continued their pressure and two minutes later were awarded a free kick from just out side the area which was well held by Lindley.
It wasn’t until the 25th minute that Gresley made their first chance of the game. Steve Rutter picked up on a feeble header by Mark Summers back to his keeper but the Gresley striker’s shot was blocked by Paul Thompson in the visitors’ goal.
A mistake by Gary White on 30 minutes allowed Adam Simms to steal the ball on the right and with good work by Seal put Jack Pitcher in a position to shoot but again the ball whistled just wide of the upright.
Just two minutes Mangotsfield took the lead. They were awarded a corner from the right and Jason Drysdale swung in a very deep ball which was headed towards goal by Gareth Loydon but Lindley made an excellent save to tip the ball away but the ball fell to Simms who coolly headed the ball home.
Many of the Moat Ground faithful were wondering if this was just the start of further agony for their side but, Gresley dug in and fought back tremendously and were back on terms within two minutes.
Straight from the kick off Gresley ran at the visiting defence and were awarded a free kick half way into Mangotsfield’s half. The quick thinking White sent in a high ball into the area and Chris Gray did very well to get his head on it and send it past the despairing dive of Thomlinson.
On 40 minutes Gresley could have taken a shock lead. A long throw in from the left by White was flicked on by Andy Bourne and Craig Hopkins was unlucky to see his thunderous volley fly agonisingly wide of the post.
Gresley came out for the second half firing on all cylinders and straight from the turnaround Gray made ground up the left but his shot was easy for the keeper to hold.
On 50 minutes a free kick by Drysdale landed at the feet of Scott Hendry but his shot was aimed straight at Lindley.
Two minutes later Gray was brought down by Hendry on the left and as the defender moved away he appeared stamp on the Gresley player and much to the amazement of the fans on that side of the pitch the referee Mr Cook said he had not seen the incident and did not even speak to the player.
Gresley could have got their just reward but the resulting free kick by White was narrowly headed over by Stuart Evans.
The home side continued to push forward and Gray was very unlucky on 55 minutes when he ran onto a through ball but was flagged as offside.
For the next 30 minutes or so both defences were in control as they snuffed out any dangerous attacks from either side. On incident had the Gresley faithful wondering if Lindley would again see a red card when he bumped into Seal as they went for a 50-50 ball just outside the area. But to the relief of the home keeper the referee showed only a yellow.
On 89 minutes Mangotsfield almost stole all three points as they threw everything at Gresley by putting three upfront. A free kick by David Elsey was headed narrowly wide by Hendry.
The plan by the Mangotsfield management to go all out for a win, however, badly backfired when a terrific flowing move from defence, deep into injury time, ended with Gray claiming his second of the game and sweet revenge for Gresley.
Gray started the move when he had defended a throw-in well into Gresley’s half and scampered up field with the ball playing a one-two with Bourne and finishing the move off with a superb shot slotting the ball by the bemused Thompson to the utter delight of team mates, management and supporters.
The manager's view
"I'm delighted with the win but I would have been pleased with a draw because it was a scrap. They are a good outfit. They have quality all over the park and I like the way they play yes they are a very good side.
"And then for Chris Gray to go and stick one in at the end was a big bonus for me. I've just said the lads in the dressing room that we seem to do things upside down. We play in a game where we did not create too many chances, albeit because we are playing against a very good side, a stick two goals in. They are the sorts of chances we had all year and not capitalised on but today we did and I'm delighted.
"Carl Slater came on and only lasted a few minutes. He took a knock on his knee and it's quite sore and I'll assess that as time goes on. But it was a bit of a shame for him and I then brought Carl Timms on. It was a bit of a toss up which I was going to bring on anyway but Timms came on and did well.
"I thought Chris Gray did well and he scored a couple of good goals. He was lively and his work rate was good but I don't think he was as positive on the ball as he normally is, I felt he was a little unsure.
"I felt we gave them too much respect in the first half. We stood off them a little bit possibly the spanking we took down there was playing on our minds a little bit. And you could see that in our lads body language when all of a sudden we went one down. It was almost as if we were expecting it to happen and the best thing we could have done was to go down and score straight away from a nothing ball really. And then I think they realised that they might get something out of this game.
"Andy Cheetham played really well and the booking seemed to fire him up but I thought he was going to go at the end down in the corner. Apparently, he said the identical things that I did to the linesman and he only got a yellow. But I'm not going to complain.
"Yes, he did very well as they were a bit lively up front and I thought we struggled at times with their pace but we stuck at it, we had a game plan and the goal at the end was just the icing on the cake.
"I still smart at the result at their place because it's so difficult to get out of your system but you've got to move on and this result goes someway to avenging it today.
"I thought the referee today was poor. But I don't think that visiting manager's and coaches help the problem when every two minutes, when each challenge goes in they are shouting 'referee, referee that's a foul'. I can understand that they want to win. No one wants to win more than me. But, to try and influence the referee's decisions by being constantly on his back is cheating in some way to me. And I don't think it's on. It amazes me how many do it.
"When Chris Gray went down their player appeared to stand on his back but the referee said he didn't see it but he saw the little things like not allowing a sub on to the field went the person he's replacing in only a couple of yards on the pitch. How pedantic can you be? But what can you do? "
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Mangotsfield United (1) 1
Scorers: Gray 34, 90 (Gresley Rovers); Simms (Mangotsfield United).
Gresley Rovers: Lindley
, Barrett, G White, Wardle, Evans, Cheetham, Peters, Hopkins, Bourne, Rutter (Slater 70, Timms 76), Gray. Subs not used: Moran, Alexander, Clarke (gk).
Mangotsfield United: Thompson, Summers, Hallett (Sorbara 70), Hendry, Drysdale, Loydon, Sims (Elsey 81), Willmot, Pitcher (Clarke 88), Seal, Pendry.
Rovers Star Man – Chris Gray – sparkling performance and two good goals.
Referee: S Cook (Belper)
Attendance: 341
