Gresley Rovers vs Alfreton Town
Gresley were looking for their second win of the season against a skilful Alfreton side.
Alfreton started well putting Gresley under pressure from the start with Gresley keeper Dale Spedding having to pull off two great saves to keep Alfreton at bay.
On 14 minutes a mix up in the defence on the right side allowed Town through with only the keeper to beat and they slotted the ball past Spedding to make it 1-0 to Alfreton.
After the restart Gresley started to settle a bit and began to cause some problems for the Town defence.
On 32 minutes Brenton put a lovely ball into the box but Matt Brown just headed over the bar.
On 35 minutes captain Daniel Foster had to be on his toes as he made a very important tackle taking the ball of the Alfreton striker which stopped him from being through on to the Gresley keeper.
A much-improved Gresley defence consisting of Nathan Tate, Richard Foster, Daniel Foster and goalkeeper Spedding all played an important role and worked very hard to keep the score line down to 1-0 at the half time interval.
There was one change at the start of the second half with Kieran Hemmings replacing Jamie Mills.
At times Gresley were starting to look the better side and on 51 minutes striker Nick McNulty took on two defenders and laid it off to Hemmings who unfortunately shot wide.
Full back Nathan Tate made lots of useful runs down the left side but the midfield were unable to provide enough quality passes to Tate.
On 60 minutes Gresley gave the ball away and Alfreton put over a first time cross but keeper Spedding held on to the ball well.
Gresley made a quick breakaway with Spedding throwing the ball to Tate who carried the ball and ran at the Town defenders and then put a good ball into the box but Hemmings headed over.
On 74 minutes Alfreton were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Gresley penalty area, the defence looked organised and confident as they waited for the kick to be taken. The free kick was superbly taken and hit the Gresley left hand post with great pace and went out of play for a goal kick.
On 86 minutes Alfreton were through on goal with only Spedding to beat. The keeper came out to narrow the angle as the Alfreton striker shot but the ball went two feet wide of the post.
Overall it was a good performance by the young lads and the manager must feel pleased with way his side played.
The four defenders and the goalkeeper played excellently throughout the game with Allen and Brenton producing some master class on the wings and forwards McNulty, Hemmings and Brown all going close but alas could not find the net.
Final score: Rovers 0 - 1 Alfreton town
1 Dale Spedding g/k
2 James Walker
3 Nathan Tate (booked)
4 Richard Foster
5 Daniel Foster (captain)
6 Daniel Croxall
7 Brenton
8 Richard Allen
9 Nick McNulty
10 Matt Brown
11 Jamie Mills
subs
12 Kieran Hemmings
13 Adam Redfern g/k
14 Sam Adams
15 Chris Mizouka
16 Mark Cox
