Another fine Sunday morning for football as the rain poured down on a pitch that more closely resembled a ploughed field, even before the match had started. Greshams were up against Elite 405 and were hoping to maintain their winning form of the previous week and consolidate their place near the top of the league.
However Greshams start was disrupted early on when Steve B was forced to leave the field injured. It is clear that at this stage of his career he doesn't quite have the same levels of fitness and athleticism as other members of the squad.
Simon replaced Steve and made an immediate impact by putting the opposition defence under pressure and forcing mistakes. Greshams were playing some decent football when given the opportunity and took the lead mid-way through the first half. Ali played a superb curling ball over the 405 defence which Dave latched onto coming in from the right hand side. He then cooly lobbed the goalkeeper to give Greshams the lead.
The lead was relatively short lived however. The ball was played back to Ash who miscued his clearance which hit the on-running 405 striker. Ash nearly made amends by diving at the strikers feet however wasn't able to get there in time and the ball looped towards goal and just clipped the underside of the bar as it went in. Greshams continued to press for the remainder of the half however didn't create too many clear-cut opportunities.
Before the resumption of the match after the half-time break the referee warned both sides that he would be monitoring the pitch as it had cut up badly during the first half and was becoming increasing difficult to play on. Luckily there was very little further rain during the second half so the game was able to proceed. Greshams started the second half slowly and were unable to play the same type of football they managed in the first half as 405 came more into the game. 405 were then presented with a great opportunity to take the lead 15 minutes into the second half.
Following some comical sliding around in the mud by Greshams players, 405 broke clear down their left hand side and squared the ball to their striker. Phil attempted a sliding tackle which began roughly around the half way line but finally made contact with their player just inside the area. It also had the result of creating a large trench through the middle of the pitch which had to be carefully navigated for the rest of the match.The referee pointed to the spot but luckily no further punishment was forthcoming for Phil.
The 405 number ten stepped up and smashed the penalty towards goal. Ash let out a large laugh which seemed a bit premature, however he was proved right as the ball smacked into the crossbar. Ash was still chuckling to himself when he realised that a 405 player had struck the rebound towards goal and had to scramble across his six yard box to make the save.
This seemed to wake Greshams up as they began to reassert themselves on the match and created several opportunities. However their strikers appeared to have left there shooting boots (if they possess any) at home, as several good chances were squandered.
Finally a long clearance from Kev went over the 405 defence and Barry, looking suspiciously offside, ran clear. He took his time as he neared the goal. He appeared to then stop to have a chat with the opposition goalkeeper before slowly rounding him and putting the ball into the empty net.
Greshams went looking to extend their lead and following a scramble in the box the ball looped up to Steve Norfolk who had an empty net to head the ball into. With the confidence you'd expect from a man who's scored a hat-trick at Wembley, he powered his header wide of the left post. 405 then tried to give Greshams a helping hand, as a ball in from the right was dummied by the 405 centre half for some reason and fell to Beardo who firmly slotted the ball wide.
In the final few minutes Greshams became a bit careless in possession of the ball which was inviting 405 onto the attack, and they managed to force a corner in the last minute. The ball was swung in to the far post and the 405 number ten rose well and powered a header into the top corner, giving Ash no chance. With barely a minute left Greshams went seeking a winner and managed to force two corners which unfortunately came to nothing before the referee then blew the full time whistle.
Whilst disappointing to lose the lead so late on, on balance a draw was a fair result against a 405 side who were a lot better than their league position would suggest. It's the cup next weekend for Greshams who will hope to get back to winning ways against fellow MB3ers Ambassadors.
