Rugby Town vs Gresley Rovers
Rugby Town 2 - 0 Gresley Rovers
Team: Steve Harris, Danny Gee, Chris Mawbey, Lewis Gadsby, Seb Kalowaski, Andy Elliot, James Manley, Craig Tucker, Tom Betteridge, Rich Lonsdale, Pat Rowell.
Subs: Gaz Jones, Paul Hollis, Mat Holmes, Tom Astle, Tom Fletcher
The first league game of the season, and we were boosted by the fact that we had four first team players in the squad. We never knew what to expect from Rugby, but unfortunately we soon learnt, because from the kick off they were the better side. They had more desire and put us under pressure so it came as no surprise when on 8 minutes they went 1-0 up. Our defence looked troubled and was being pulled all over the place, and I think they hit the woodwork twice before they went 2-0 up with only 20 minutes gone.
We settled things down a little and had a few half chances, but were getting overrun in midfield; the plus side though was that the defence were coping a lot better with things. Lonsdale was up front on his own most of the time, but when we did link up with him and supported him, we could have got a goal back before half time. They were only half chances though and Rowell was unlucky when his shot went just wide, but as the whistle blew, their keeper hadn't needed to make a save!
Second half we started a lot brighter and actually looked as if we could get something from the game. On 55 minutes we replaced Tucker for Holmes to give us a little more attacking options and a couple of minutes later replaced Manley for Fletcher. This gave us a little bit more creativity in midfield and soon paid off when Fletcher hit a shot forcing the first real save from their keeper when he tipped it over his bar. With 15 minutes left we replaced the injured Rowell with Hollis and still controlled things but being honest never looked like scoring.
So today was a learning curve for us, we were far too quiet with nobody really commanding things. We were beaten by a good, well-organised side and at times we were lucky to keep things respectable. A few players looked unfit and I think we missed a battling mid fielder at times, although I thought Elliot worked and battled for everything and the midfield role really suits him. The good thing is that our heads never went down and we can hold our heads up to the fact that we kept our discipline and everyone worked and tried their best. Another plus was the fact that I think Donna (our physio) did well with our injuries in only her second game and Ivor and me would like to thank her for the help.
