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Saturday 29th November |
FA Trophy 2nd Round |
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Gresley Rovers 3 - 2 Hinckley United |
| Hinckley: |
 |
Clarke |
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Cartwright |
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Lenton
 |
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Jackson |
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Goodwin |
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Stone
(Penny
6mins) |
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Storer
|
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Dyer |
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Sadler |
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Jenkins
|
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Murray |
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| Gresley: |
| 1. |
Belford |
| 2. |
Everitt |
| 3. |
Cheetham |
| 4. |
Wardle |
| 5. |
Holmes |
| 6. |
Barrett |
| 7. |
Doughty
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| 8. |
Slater |
| 9. |
Harrad
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| 10. |
Francis |
| 11. |
Alexander |
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| Goals: |
| Jenkins, 5 mins |
0 - 1 |
| Lenton, 12 mins |
0 - 2 |
| Harrad, 18 mins |
1 - 2 |
| Doughty, 45 mins |
2 - 2 |
| Harrad, pen, 83 mins |
3 - 2 |
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| Half Time: |
2 - 2 |
| Full Time: |
3 - 2 |
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the Hird Dimension: |
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Hello my darlings, well from my stairlift in heaven I've been looking down on
you all, and in particular that lovely football team in red & blue. Me and
Jimi Hendrix love a bit of 'knitting' of an evening and we really can't wait for
Geri Halliwell to join us for a threesome. Knit one, Perl one, deary. So we
thought what better way to pass our time than to follow the Knitter's football
team.
There isn't that lovely, then. |
Cup time back in the knitting lounge and the short trip north to Gresley. For
the last match in this competition Hinckley had to battle to get past Rugby,
Jimi reliably informs me that this too would be an uphill struggle. I didn't
understand why he was laughing, at least I think he was laughing, he could've
been choking again. Anyway apparently Gresley have a reknowned slope on their
pitch which Jimi tells me is about a 10 foot drop from goal to goal. We would
just have to hope Hinckley won the toss. Hinckley lost the toss and Gresley
would be kicking down the slope second half, a bad omen from the start. Hinckley
were also down to their Youth team keeper Dave Clarke. Tommy Whittle was serving
his suspension for his, erm, antics against Rugby and back up keeper Chris
Taylor refused to be cup tied.
Oooooh it nearly started disasterously. Dave Clarke miss kicked in the first
minute and Shaun Harrad followed up only to see his shot come off the post.
That was one 'Tena Lady' taken care of. Within 15 minutes though Hinckley had
took a 2-0 lead. Dave Sadler turned the defence inside out and laid the ball
for Justin Jenkins to head home unchallenged. 5 minutes later Jamie Lenton had
acres of space on the left before putting in a cross which embarressingly deceived
Dale Belford and went straight over the Gresley keeper's head into the goal. This
jolted Gresley into life and they had got a goal back within another 5 minutes.
Gavin Stone and Tom Goodwin got in a bit of a mess and Goodwin's clearance
bounced of the back of Stone's, er, back. Unfortunately right into the path of
Shaun Harrad who this time made no mistake of scoring. Gresley had the impetous
now and Leon Doughty showed what would come later with a 25 yard shot they went
just wide. Then just before half time Jamie Barrett's shot was cleared by Stone
only to fall at the feet of Leon Doughty 35 yards out, who drilled it through
the crowd and past Clarke for the equaliser.
Jimi's verdict on the first half: Hinckley had thrown away their early dominance
by becoming casual, complacent and presuming the job was already done.
Second half started like the first ended with Gresley pushing forward , but
gradually Hinckley sorted themselves out and began to play how they started the
match. That lovely young Neil Cartwright fired over from 20 yards and Chris
Smith's shot on the turn beat Belford but was cleared away by Gareth Holmes.
Both Sadler and then Chris Smith forced desperate defending on the goal line,
but Hinckley couldn't quite get a winner. With only minutes left Gresley dealt
the killer blow. On a rare second half breakaway Shaun Harrad dribbled into the
area and Tom Goodwin clumsily brought him down for a penalty. Harrad himself got
up to give the Youth team keeper no chance and give Gresley a 3-2 lead. Hinckley
then threw everything forward and Leon Jackson and Wayne Dyer had good chances
to equalise but it just wasn't going to be. The final whistle went and Hinckley
were out of the Cup.
Jimi's opinion: Gresley had deserved their victory for the way they had dug deep
when 2-0 down and continually pushed forward. Hinckley had mentally thought the
job was already done and literally took their eye off the ball. The way in which
Gresley won was somewhat fortuatous, but yoiu make your own luck. Hinckley had
plenty of chances in the second half and had no-one else to blame but
themselves. |
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