Gresley Rovers vs Rolleston Cricket Club
Gresley Rovers 1 - 2 Rolleston
Scorer: Foster
Team: Ian Parker, Jack Moylan, Danny Gee, Dean Acton, Carl Wymark, Todd Foster(c), Andy Elliot, Alex Peplow, Paul Morton, Chris Smith, Matt Grice
Subs: Sam Worth, Kyle Jones, Stu Haywood
It was nice to get a game after the recent weather, and although the pitch was very heavy, it was fit enough to play on. Martin and myself had a good chat on Friday about things and agreed on our formation. We decided to alter
things slightly, just to try something a little different, so we went with Ian Parker in goal after his last game which he did really well in.
We opted for the back four of Jack and Danny with the centre pairing of Dean and Carl, this meant Alex moving to left midfield, with Paul on the right. With Todd and Andy in the middle and our strike force being Matt and Chris.
With it being a cup game, we needed to keep things tight, and we did this and if anything shaded things for the first 15 minutes. However, we were very lucky not to be a goal down, because from a great strike, the ball appeared to hit the back of the net and come out!! The ref missed it, and with the quick thinking of Ian, who carried on, I think this probably helped to confuse him?
So we were lucky, however with about 25 minutes gone, their striker broke through and our keeper pulled him back and the penalty was awarded. I was relieved that although a goal down, Ian was not cautioned or worse!! I think the ref showed good commonsense (not often you hear that one!!). A couple of minutes later Dean Acton was outstretched, and caught their striker just outside the area, for which he received a yellow card but it was a tackle he had to make. It was a pretty even half with both teams having half chances, and our defence made some excellent challenges to deny Rolleston and clear-cut chances.
We started the second half making one substitution, bringing on Sam Worth for a rather ill Paul Morton, and it was Sam's cross which found Todd to draw us level with less than 10 minutes gone. We now had the momentum and we were the better side, we were working as a team and did most of the attacking. The final ball was sometimes just lacking, but our workrate and effort was superb, and it was the sort of game you knew would go to "the wire". With 25 minutes left we replaced Todd for Kyle, who was not in his favoured position of midfield but I knew he could do a job in there. With 20 minutes left Alex was injured, so we put Chris on the left and brought on Stu to partner Matt
up front.
Stu was making a nuisance of himself in their area and was unlucky 2 or 3 times not to score?? Matt Grice was in on goal, and was (in my view) fouled, but the ref never gave it and being honest it was one of those that sometimes you get and sometimes you dont!! So with only 8 minutes left (and extra time looming) they broke forward and I think Jack pulled a shirt in the area, and penalty given. It seemed almost cruel, but that's football at times, and we were again behind. So as you do in a cup game, we "threw
caution to the wind" and shoved Dean upfront too but we couldn't get the equaliser our performance deserved.
So today we've lost AGAIN, but on reflection, I think we can take lots of positives from the game. We worked very hard and listened to what Martin and me wanted from you, and we did as asked EVERYONE!! Yes at times we still lack
the experience that teams in our league have, but that comes from games. I wouldn't like to have to pick mom because everyone played their part, but if I had to I think that Carl Wymark would probably shade it? The pitch was heavy but it was the same for both teams but we never tired and fought till the end so well done!! We can now try to get a run going in the league because I think we're rightly in this league, it's got some good teams in it
and as today, all the teams are good sporting footballing sides!! Heads up lads let's keep the great attitude and morale going and keep enjoying playing our football.
