Boldmere St Michael's vs Gresley FC
Boldmere 1-1 Gresley Reserves
1. Simon Baldwin 2. Darryl Towle 3. Pete Collins 4. Lee Stretton (c) 5.Paul Hollis 6. Andy Dunne 7. Craig Tucker 8. Joe Urquhart 9. Chris Burnham 10. Tom Read 11. Joe Swift 12. Matt Draycott 14. Sam Rose 15. Sam Worth 16. Ash Franklin 17. Adam Mewis
Scorer: Burnham
We were expecting a tough encounter against a team in a similar position to ourselves and on a big pitch that was pretty boggy before we'd even started. With a few players on first team duty we decided to switch to a 4-4-2 and asked for a strong start and to use the flanks as much as possible, which to be fair we did. The lads came out of the blocks and took the game to Boldmere and were having some success, with a couple of half chances and openings that we failed to capitalise on.
We were quite comfortable at the back but then a few lapses nearly let them in only for terrific last gasp challenges from the centre backs to block the shots. At the other end we should've taken the lead when Craig Tucker found himself in front of goal only to shoot at the keeper then see a second attempt go wide. As the half went on though Boldmere began to get a foothold on the game...mainly due to our own errors as we failed to clear our lines and couldn't keep hold of the ball from throw ins and goal kicks which kept putting us under pressure.
Boldmere did have one good chance when a glancing header went wide and Simon Baldwin had a couple of saves to make plus they were having a lot of joy down the left wing but after an encouraging start we were glad to get to half time unscathed.
We were looking for a reaction after the break and to be fair the lads did improve again. It was becoming a tight game but we were starting to have some success and get on top without creating too many chances, and the referee wasn't helping matters with some bizarre decisions, including a penalty shout being ignored despite being clattered by both keeper and centre back.
We finally made the breakthrough in the 77th minute when a long kick from Baldwin bounced in front of Chris Burnham who did well to hold his marker off and beat the keeper to the ball to nod home and a valuable lead. Now was the time to close the game out and come away with all 3 points and for a few minutes we held onto the ball quite well and looked comfortable, but we seemed to get rattled by some of the banter coming from Boldmere and concentration levels and discipline went out of the window.
On 87 mins the equaliser came when we failed to stop a cross and then left the player right in front of goal 6 yards out free to head home a very soft and needless finish and we would have to settle for a point which did neither sides chances of a top two finish any favours.
On the positive side we did see an improvement in work rate and endeavour from the previous game but need to learn not to get caught up in petty banter which distracted one or two players. We also need to learn how to shut up shop and close a game out with only 13 minutes remaining. Still plenty to work on but it's now 5 games unbeaten and 24 more points to play for.
