Note that this page is from our Gresley Rovers archive. It may not be related to the new Gresley Rovers (formerly Gresley FC until 2020).
Frank chops and changes for cure
Story courtesy of
Gresley boss Frank Northwood admits he is at a loss to explain why his team folded so badly at Chasetown last week.
The veteran boss clearly thought his team shake-up – enacted in the wake of the disappointing FA Vase exit at Newcastle Town – had done the trick when his side bounced back to defeat Rocester 4-0 the following Saturday.But Gresley followed up with one of the most woeful defensive performances I can ever recall from a Northwood side at The Scholars ground.
Northwood angrily refused afterwards to give Chasetown any credit for their win, dubbing his main title rivals “a poor team.”
It’s true that Chasetown are not an attractive footballing side – but they were certainly effective against Rovers, brashly refusing to give Gresley time or space to create anything in the middle of the park and ruthlessly harassing their guests into untypical mistakes at the back.
Northwood said afterwards: “It was like after the Lord Mayor’s Show. We played brilliant stuff last week but today we were very, very poor. Why we don’t know.”
Typically, though, Northwood has not wasted time scratching his head for an answer. He recalled keeper Simon Harrison to the Moat for Tuesday’s friendly win against Hinckley Town and meanwhile sent defender Frank Nuttall along the same road as Bob Aston and Carl Rathbone.
Nuttall shouldered much of the blame after Chasetown for not declaring a pre-match injury.
Northwood later offered the Scots defender the chance to apologise and return to the fold but issued marching orders after Nuttall said he would “need to think about it.”
