In the now familiar surroundings of Gainsborough Sports Centre, Greshams gathered for a potential title clincher. A win, and the title of Champions, Ipswich and District Sunday Morning League, Division MB2B (Spring / Summer) would be theirs. A few regulars were on Easter egg hunts and so some old stalwarts stepped in to the starting eleven which lined up with Rob in goals; a back four of Ollie, Harry, Hamblin and Cash; in midfield Froudy, Rob, Sam and Matt; Ash and the Hunn up front with the returning Academy duo of Snelly and Ryan on the bench, sadly without their WAGS.
On a slightly bobbly surface, the match began in evenly balanced fashion. Eagles were playing three in central midfield but the hard work of Sam and Rob was ensuring that this was no great advantage. With the Hunn and Ash up front, Greshams had pace in the team and nearly took the lead when a cross found Ash in the box only for the header to go narrowly wide.
However, it was Whitton who struck first. A corner was only partly cleared and landed at the feet of the Whitton midfielder who had been left in space. He picked his spot and drilled a decent effort low into the net.
Despite this however, Greshams remained relatively untroubled at the back. Whitton's only tactic seemed to be the long hoof in the direction of their number 9. However Hamblin was marshalling him effectively and Harry covering round well to nullify the threat. The Eagles 9 is a decent player but fractious, and after being denied a free kick when unintentionally tripped by Hamblin, nearly went apoplectic! Greshams got back on terms when Sam was clearly tripped on the edge of the 'D'. With a few dead ball specialists in the team, this time the Hunn took control and nonchalantly curled the ball perfectly over the wall and in to the corner of the net.
Greshams then took the lead with a carbon copy of their first goal. This time the Hunn won the free kick himself - and 'won' is the correct word as the Hunn over ran the ball, deliberately collided with the defender and collapsed to the floor. The kick was slightly further out and at a marginally different angle but the outcome was the same as the ball sailed over the wall and into the net to give Greshams a half time lead they deserved.
Half Time: Eagles 1 Greshams 2
Greshams half time team talk was very much 'keep it as we are and we'll win the game' and within minutes of the restart, they nearly extended their lead. A cross came in from the left to find Ash attacking the near post ahead of the defender. Ash got a deft flick on the ball to direct it towards the top corner, only to see the keeper throw up a hand and make a good save.
Minutes later came the moment that defined the game. With Greshams on the defensive, a shot came in that Rob saved but could only parry to the Eagles midfielder who was in yards of space on the penalty spot. The shot was firmly hit and very close to Cashen who was covering on the line. The veteran defender couldn't help but instinctively move his arm across to block it, leaving the ref with no real option but to issue the red card and award the penalty.
Cashen trudged off to see the Eagles number 9 compound his misery by lashing in an unstoppable penalty. The referee seemed to have no trouble with the red carded manager being involved from the sidelines and Cashen reshuffled the team with Matt dropping to left back, the Hunn slotting in at left midfield, leaving Ash on his own up front.
The dismissal and goal seemed to affect Greshams who for a short period allowed their heads to drop. In this time, Eagles added two further goals with the third a fine curled shot and the fourth a header when a cross just dropped between Harry and Steve right on to the forward's head.
With 25 minutes still left to play, this could have turned into an embarrassing scoreline but instead, Greshams dug deep and turned the game around. For the last 25 minutes Greshams were dominant, with Froudy in particular finding loads of space down the right flank. For the last few minutes Ryan replaced Ash and on a couple of occasions very nearly got through in a one on one situation. However for all their dominance and having one cleared off the line and some other half chances Greshams were not able to force the goal that they deserved for their performance.
For the last couple of minutes Snelly came on in place of Ollie and managed to immediately get under the skin of the Eagles number 9 - who threatened to 'knock him out' and to 'break his neck'. All Snelly did to deserve this was to make a couple of decent tackles in a fairly impressive cameo as sub.
So the game ran out with Greshams defeated, mainly because of the red card. However, despite the result this was a good performance and the title remains very much in Greshams' own hands.
Man of the Match
Everybody really contributed on the day in what was a battling performance. Greshams were on top of the game with the exception of the ten minutes following the red card when their heads dropped a little. There were strong performances all over the pitch, especially at centre half where Harry had arguably his best game for the Club and Steve Hamblin played the number 9 excellently. However Man of the Match has to go to one of the central midfield duo who made light of being up against the midfield three of Eagles to produce displays full of energy both in the defensive and attacking parts of the pitch. A hard choice between Sam and Rob but the bubbly this week goes to Sam. Well played mate.
