Match Report  |  Gresley Rovers vs Deeping Rangers

Manager Carl Abbott felt empty and puzzled after that Jekyll and Hyde performance and his assistant Paul Tomlinson said it was the worst performance of a team in the hundreds of games, he and Carl have managed in the years working together and who can argue with that?

Yes, there were a few moments of good attacking football from Rovers, but not nearly enough, which did not produce the end result needed. Rovers played as if they’d not played together before with passes going astray, not reaching teammates and giving the ball away in some dangerous positions. It was at times a side of individuals rather than a team.

In contrast the visitors, who had only won one league game before today, were full of fight and determination playing as a team, defending well and full of confidence.

Rovers had a good game in midweek, but this showing was in stark contract to the Kimberley and the Newark game the Saturday previous in front of the biggest crowd at the Moat so far this season.

Rovers were caught out again from a set piece as we’ve seen on a few occasions. There were only eleven minutes on the clock when Deeping were awarded a corner from the right and as the ball came into the box Will Barnes was allowed both time and space to rise unmarked to power his header home.

Nathan Banton made a good run up the left and into the area and his ball to Jamie Sleigh whose final shot took a deflection wide. Another good move ended with Ryan King putting his volley over the bar. Fin Barker then fastened on to a poor kick from keeper Ignas Sakalas but put his shot over the bar from the edge of the area. The play went to the other end with Deeping having a shot cleared off the line.

Rovers were still looking for a goal and Jake Meakin almost got it with a ferocious shot from just outside the area which Sakalas had to push away. The rebound came to Sleigh who put his shot wide of the open goal.

Deeping were themselves looking for another goal and forced a good save out of Louie Turner with a shot from the right. Unfortunately, with the half almost at an end there were some unwanted histrionics from Sakalas to try and delay the play. His long kick ended with Scott Waumsley being put through on goal only to fire the ball wide with just Turner to beat.

The second half showed some promise for the home supporters with Sleigh making his way onto the box bit having his shot blocked by the keeper.

On 58 minutes Rovers’ task was made harder when Alby Lansdowne was shown a straight red card after a tackle on Liam Hook. It appeared that he had got the ball cleanly, but the referee deemed that his follow through warranted a sending off. The player and the supporters in full view of the offence disagreed with the referee’s view.

Rovers were unsettled by the dismissal and within a few seconds they were another goal down. Byron Adiado’s run down the left ended with a pass to teammate Waumsley who made no mistake firing home.

Within four minutes Rovers almost got themselves back into the game with Barker having two chances. He first hit the post and after the rebound came back to him his goal bound shot was blocked. Rovers were struggling to find the target with King blazing a shot over the bar.
Both sides made changes with Jenson Cooper replacing King for Rovers with Luke Clemson and Jonny Lockie replacing Will Barnes and Matt Sparrow for the visitors. These were followed eight minutes later with Jacob Sturgess replacing Meakin for Rovers and Callum Davies coming on for Waumsley for Deeping.

Unfortunately, for Rovers it didn’t help as it was the visitors who were having the better of the final quarter and should have extended their lead with substitute Davies having a golden opportunity running onto a through ball slicing the home backline in two but firing well over the bar from just inside the area.

The game started to get a little fractious with a flurry of yellow cards for both sides and another Deeping substitute missed a good chance firing his shot wide from a good position.

The final setback for Rovers came deep into time added on when after a tussle in midfield saw Cooper shown a straight red to see the home side play the remainder of the game with nine players.

A big response is now needed when we make the longest trip to Skegness next Saturday.