Gresley Rovers vs Lichfield City
Gresley Rovers 0 - 4 Lichfield City
Team: Ian Parker, Joe Tomlin, Chris Smith, Dave Hatfield (c), Rich Foster, Danny Gee, Josh Gregory, Luke Taylor, Sam Worth, Joe Swift, Paul Morton.
Subs: Mark Shorthouse, Tom Fletcher, Nige Brewin, Dan Woodings.
We hosted Lichfield City in our last league game this season, and having met three times already this season, we knew how tough it was going to be. Lichfield had certainly had the better of our previous encounters, but on the plus side, we had a full squad to choose from.
It wasn't the best of conditions for good football, as there was a blustery wind blowing across the pitch, so getting the ball down was going to be important for both sides.
We started a little lethargic, but soon got into things, as our midfield won a lot of possession from their opponents. We had the first real chance of the game on the 15 minute mark, when from a neat move Gregory was fed in on goal with only the keeper to beat, but his shot went harmlessly wide of the post. Soon after we had another chance, when again some neat interplay, found Morton whose shot went agonisingly wide of the post. Lichfield could have hit back, when Parker failed to collect the ball, but our defence cleared the danger from their attack.
We had another two good chances to open the scoreline, with both Swift and Worth having a shot on goal, but again the finish lacked accuracy. With 39 minutes gone Lichfield were awarded a corner, and as we appealed that the ball had gone out of play and back in, we switched off and Gee was unfortunate, seeing his header go into his own goal. I honestly don't know if the ball was out of play (and neither could the ref) so we need to learn to play to the whistle as maybe we could of saved the goal!
Second half got underway, and Lichfield had certainly upped things, as our heads had dropped a little. We made our first change within 10 minutes, replacing Taylor (who was struggling with his Knee) for Shorthouse giving us an extra striker. Parker made two great saves, one of which was point blank and certainly kept us in it as we lost our shape a little. Lichfield's pressure paid off though, as they added another from a little hesitation in defence. We then made our second change, replacing Smith for Fletcher which meant Gee slotting into the left back position, with 30 minutes remaining.
Shorthouse was battling for everything, and from such a battle, he won the ball on the right finding Morton who in turn fed in the advancing Worth. Worth continued his run hitting a low shot, which their keeper just managed to push round the post for a corner. Lichfield's reply was to add another as we again showed hesitation in clearing the ball.
With 20 minutes remaining we made our last change, replacing Gregory for Brewin (who had impressed on his full debut last week) and he soon got into things. He's got good vision with the energy to match, and he battled well in midfield.
Lichfield added another with 6 minutes remaining, which I feel makes the score sound worse than our performance deserved, as for most of the game we'd matched them. However, they taught us a lesson today, because they coped with the pressure with patience and were clinical in front of goal, showing us why they're a top side challenging for the title.
Although the result was harsh, I feel that today we showed we've the ability to trouble one of the best defence's in our league, and made numerous chances. As we know though, goals win game and linked with our little lapses, Lichfield deserved the win. We'll work on things though, and when we get them right I'm sure we'll be a serious contender for honours, we've improved a lot but are not quite the finished article yet.
Thanks must go to Matt Grice today for running the line for us, and with the semi final next week (and a chance to play at The Pirelli Stadium) what better time to "bounce back"!! You've got it in your locker boys so let's see it next Saturday.
MOM: Dave Hatfield, our skipper is a true inspiration to the youngsters, and today never gave up until the final whistle. Shows his character week in week out, well done "skip" much deserved credit I know.
