Gresley FC vs Boldmere St Michael's
1. Simon Baldwin 2. Sam Worth 3. Pete Collins 4. Lee Stretton (c) 5. Sam Rose 6. Andy Dunn 7. Joe Urquhart 8. Joe Swift 9. Chris Burnham 10. Tom Read 11. Dave Williams 12. Craig Tucker 14. Matt Draycott 15. Ash Frankiln 16. Paul Hollis
We knew if we had any hopes of a top two finish this season this was a vital 3 points so we switched back to a 4-3-1-2 formation to take the game to Boldmere, who are on a great run of nine unbeaten and challenging for the title.
The lads certainly looked the part in their new kit but this was make or break time and unfortunately the message didn't seem to sink in to the players as this was an extremely disappointing performance from start to finish.
Take nothing away from Boldmere they are a decent outfit who are very well organised but we contributed to our own downfall.
Boldmere were forced into a change early on and the lad that came on instantly began to cause problems with his strength and pace that we struggled to deal with. We fell behind on 22 mins when a free kick was delivered and we were too slow to react which resulted in a simple tap in and a situation that should've been dealt with if we'd just reacted quicker.
We fell further behind on 28 mins when a move down the right was crossed into the edge of the box too easily and the oncoming player was free to stride forward and sidefoot into the corner of the net...again a soft goal from our perspective.
Our defensive record has been one of the best in the league this season but goalscoring has been a problem so to be two down gave us a mountain to climb. The first half came to an end and we were still to create a single shot at goal.
The second half pretty much followed the same pattern as the first as we just didn't get going and with Boldmere defending solidly we didn't seem to have any answers on how to break them down. Again we were struggling to deal with the lad upfront and the lead was increased on 64 mins as we became stretched, and the keeper was beaten at the near post and the game was well and truly over.
This was a massive disappointment as we just didn't get into the game and failed to create a single chance all night...credit to Boldmere who are now looking good for the title and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say the best side won, however we conceeded some soft goals which to be fair we haven't been doing this season and workrate and creativity was non-existant. This side is becoming a bit Jeckyl and Hyde with one performance unrecognisable from the next so we'll be looking for a bit of consistency in the games that are to come thick and fast..we only have to wait two days to put things right!!
