The Dart vs Gresley Rovers
The Dart 3 - 1 Gresley Rovers
Scorer: Rich Hanslow
Team: Stu Haywood, Carl Wymark, Alex Smith, Tom Gregory, Kyle Jones, Matt Grice, Todd Foster(c), Joe Tomlin, Sam Ingley, Rich Hanslow, Paul Morton.
Subs: Phil Sutton, Ian Parker
We were away to The Dart today, and with them being top of the league and us bottom, I feared the worst considering our present form. We had a few new squad members to strengthen things up and to try some new ideas, so we
entered the game not really knowing what to expect.
We started off quite well all things considered, and the new players fitted in quite easily, which I was confident they would after seeing them on numerous occasions at training. The Dart though are a good, well organised
side, and soon had us on the back foot and created a few good chances early on, with Stu Haywood making a couple of good saves to deny them.
However, with only 12 minutes gone we were 1-0 down when a loose ball in our area found a Dart player and he scored, a little scrappy but they all count. We continued to press forward, and the odd time we beat the off side, we did threaten but lacked that little bit of composure which is understandable considering. Carl Wymark did very well to get back quickly to clear off our line when Haywood was beaten, and again we rode our luck when they hit the bar and the ball bounced off the line and out.
Second half we swapped Paul Morton for Phil Sutton, as not only was Morton struggling from flu but he also had a clash of heads first half causing him to have a nose bleed. Five minutes in Todd Foster found Rich Hanslow in
space, and he did well to turn his marker and slot past their stranded keeper to draw us level. We were back in it and Tom Gregory again found Hanslow with a great 30-yard pass, and he was unlucky because as he beat one player
another quickly closed him down restricting a clear shot at goal. This gave The Dart the shock that triggered them to attack again and they went 2-1 up with 25 minutes gone. They attacked us on numerous occasions but luckily they
either missed the target, or Haywood kept them at bay with a couple of good saves. With 15 minutes left we swapped Sam Ingley, who was struggling with his hamstring, for Ian Parker and although we sought an equaliser we never really
had a clear-cut chance. With 10 minutes left, they put the game out of our reach, when they caught us on the break to make it 3-1.
So today the result is certainly not what we wanted, however there were great improvements from the last few games. We looked to have a lot more desire and we worked as a team, something we haven't done so far this season. We kept our shape better, and kept our heads up with great attitude and discipline. So we've started to turn the corner today, but we can only continue to do this if we work hard, listen and learn from our mistakes. There's a long way to go yet but I feel we're going in the right
direction, and soon we'll get our much needed first win, and from that I honestly believe we'll go on to the level that we know we can reach, and to some extent I expect. Keep it going and we'll get there well done ALL OF YOU
MOM: Rich Hanslow, again created a goal from a half chance and mom again seems to be getting a habit. It's a great habit to get into though so keep it up Rich.
