Gresley FC vs Walsall Wood
1. Simon Baldwin 2. Craig Tucker 3. Pete Collins 4. Lee Stretton (c) 5. Sam Rose 6. Dave Williams 7. Sam Worth 8. Joe Urquhart 9. Chris Burnham 10. Tom Read 11. Joe Swift 12. Andy Dunn 14. Matt Draycott 15. Ash Franklin 16. Darryl Towle 17. Paul Hollis
Scorer: Chris Burnham
After Thursdays disappointing performance we were looking for a big reaction from the players and went back to a basic 4-4-2 formation which seemed to have the desired effect.
The response was exactly what we were after with work rate and desire much improved and we were creating chances. We were dominating proceedings but as is usually the case we weren't converting our various chances, which can always come back to haunt you, and on 30 mins we had a defensive lapse which allowed the striker clean through on goal to give Walsall an unexpected lead.
We continued to dominate possession and the forwards were holding the ball up well but again the finishing was wasteful and we must start converting some of our chances when on top because we are getting punished at the other end. To make matters worse we conceded a second from the penalty spot when a reckless tackle was only going to result in one outcome, which was duly dispatched, and again we had a mountain to climb in a game we should've been out of sight.
We went three upfront to try and salvage a point and this paid off when Matt Draycott played Chris Burnham through to slot home on 80 mins and set up a tense finish. We created a number of chances during this period but our Achilles heel of not converting them was again evident and three points were very much thrown away.
A number of positives today compared to Thursday, the work rate and endeavour couldn't be faulted and we played the ball around well with lots of possession. The worrying thing is we are starting to leak soft goals and with us struggling to take our chances we can't afford to be two goals down. Just a few games ago we were looking at a top two finish, but now we just have pride left to play for and can start to build for next season.
