Gresley Rovers vs Overseal St Michaels
Gresley Rovers 3 - 3 Overseal St Matthews
Scorers: Hanslow, Acton, Jones (pen)
Team: Tom Allan, Carl Wymark, Gaz Jones(c), Nath Venning, Olly Baum, Mark Shorthouse, Tom Fletcher, Todd Foster, Chris Smith, Rich Hanslow, Dean Acton
Sub: Stu Haywood
With a blustery wind, we played our last home game of the season, against Overseal in the supplementary cup. They are third in the league above us, and had a great win against The Castle Hotel last week, so we knew they were going to be a good side.
We were again down to the bare bones, with only one sub, so we knew everyone needed to work hard and play quality football. We started with a new formation of three at the back, opting for Nath Venning, Gaz Jones and Carl Wymark, which gave us a strong midfield.
We started off very well and the midfield were winning everything and not allowing the opposition time on the ball. The defence adapted really well and never looked troubled with anything, and up front Dean Acton and Rich Hanslow were tormenting their defence.
On 10 minutes Hanslow got the ball down, turned his marker, and hit a quality finish to beat the keeper. So 1-0 up and we were still playing neat, fast football and were pulling the opponents all over the place.
On 23 minutes Acton made it 2-0 from close range and we were cruising. We missed a few good chances, which would have put the game beyond doubt, however in the last 10 minutes of the first half they scored twice to make it level at the whistle.
We came out second half, with Stu Haywood in goal not because Tom did anything wrong, but because he deserves his chance. We were still playing the far better football, and still creating a lot of chances. With 10 minutes gone
Smith broke free and, with the ball at his feet, was fouled in the area.
Jones stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 3-2.They had the wind behind them, but we were still the better side, and could of extended our lead a few times. However, with 12 minutes left they equalised again and that's how it stayed.
So today we had our first draw of the season, in a game we should of won, but I can take many positives out of our performance with no negatives. We played a new formation and today it worked well because the back three worked well, and gave us a strong midfield. The defence coped well with in, my opinion, Wymark having his best game for us. Mr consistent Jones and Venning making a great defensive trio. In midfield Baum and Shorthouse battled for everything, again in my opinion, Shorthouse was outstanding covering everything and helping out in defence when needed.
We were stronger, and better than the opposition in every area, and on another day could have won by a 2 or 3 goal margin. So lets take that into next week's game, against our neighbours Newhall and keep up our good football and
attitude.
Mom: Mark Shorthouse. He worked his socks off, defending; tackling and distribution were first class.
