The Seal Inn vs Gresley Rovers
The Seal Inn 2 - 5 Gresley Rovers
Scorers: Foster 2 (both pens), Morton 2, Gregory
Team: Ian Parker, Jack Moylan, Danny Gee, Rich Foster (c), Joe Tomlin, Tom Fletcher, Luke Taylor, Matt Grice, Sam Worth, Josh Gregory, Paul Morton
Subs: Chris Smith, Mark Shorthouse, Craig Harrison, Andy Lyons
We were away in the cup to The Seal Inn, who are in the division below, but as we know this means nothing in cup games. We'd opted for the same starting line up against Barton, apart from Gee who was brought into the right back
position.
The game got underway, and we soon created problems for our opponents, Morton's pace was again proving too much for other teams. He was brought down by a wild challenge from their keeper with only 3 minutes gone, it was inside the area and their keeper received a yellow card (could
have been worse I feel) but Foster coolly took the penalty and we were 1-0 up.
We then allowed them back into it and with only 18 minutes gone they equalised, the ball deflected off Tomlin wrong footing Parker, but being honest they deserved it because we'd switched off. Gee produced a fine save from their keeper when, from way out, he hit a sweet goal bound shot, only to see it tipped over the bar.
We actually began to "up things" afterwards (we certainly needed to) however the final quality ball was lacking. We put pressure on them but that little extra was lacking, however with 28 minutes gone we got a corner, and Taylor's
delivery was "top notch" and Gregory found space at the back post and executed a perfect volley to make it 2-1.This gave us a lift (we certainly needed it) and we could of gone in at half time 3 or 4 to the good. Their
keeper saving twice from Taylor.
Half time talk mentioned that we needed to use our wide men (because when we did we looked very threatening) and I thought we'd "got out of jail" a little first half.
Within 3 minutes of the second half, we again were awarded a penalty, and Foster was on hand to make it 3-1.This should of been the "daylight" that we needed to kill off our opponents, however we tried to score more instead of
controlling things. This put pressure on our defence, because we got caught out of position, and The Seal took advantage and scored making it 3-2.
It was now "game on" and Moylan made some great tackles (along with his other three defenders) to keep us in front. When we attacked though we did look dangerous, and Worth was very un selfish passing when he possibly could of scored. Morton was still doing what "Morton does" by creating havoc and it was from such a situation that he lobbed their keeper to make it 4-2.
With 25 minutes gone, we made our first substitution, replacing Taylor for Smith giving us two up front. Taylor had been immense today, so it was tactical to try to extend our lead, and put the game beyond them. Morton added another with a header, so we made another substitution replacing Grice for Shorthouse, giving us a bit of "presence" in the last third. We rode some late challenges, as they tired, but continued to play our game without reacting (something I'm proud of).
With 8 minutes remaining we made our last change, replacing Morton for Harrison, and his first touch very nearly resulted in a goal and Smith was unlucky with the afters. Their keeper had a great game, keeping the scoreline respectable, but in the end our little extra quality shone through.
I'll be totally honest, it was not our best performance today, but we're through to the next round and that's what cup football is all about. I think we could (or possibly should) have raised it today, because I know how good
you can be, but the scoreline doesn't lie so well done to everyone. Today showed some good signs for the future, and considering the average age, I'm a proud manager (rightly so I feel) because you show improvements through training and results. Let's keep up the workrate, because the results are showing, so it's down to workrate not just ability (of which we have loads) WELL DONE LADS.
