It was a bleary eyed Greshams who gathered at the rather unearthly hour of 9 o'clock for the longest away trip of the season, to Worlingworth. After a hard night's rain it was something of a surprise the game went ahead but on arrival at Worlingworth, a pitch inspection showed the ground to be mossy but clearly playable. Greshams enjoyed some good pre match banter, mostly based around the smell emanating from their goalkeeper, as Cashen announced the team which was: Rob in goals; back four Beardo, Hamblin, Cooky, Cash; in midfield Froudy, Matt, Sam, Rob Minns; and up front Steve Norfolk and an alarmingly fresh looking Richard Hunn, with Snelly as sub.
Unfortunately, Greshams pre match banter continued into a slapstick warm up, with several practice balls being hoofed irretrievably into a neighbouring field, and a parody of a performance in the first half of the game.
While the first few minutes were relatively even, Greshams lost their shape early on, failing to track runners and leaving the back four very exposed. In fairness, Worlingworth were proving a decent team, with quality in their ranks particularly going forwards. However they were assisted by a poor display from Greshams who were failing to do the basics and were soon behind when a decent enough cross was headed home at the far post. 1-0, but at this point Greshams had a good chance of their own when a good cross from the left found Richard Hunn unmarked in acres of space and just six yards out. However Rick mistimed the swing of his left boot and ended up taking a complete air shot and the chance was gone.
Shortly after Greshams fell further behind and again they were authors of their own misfortune as dithering between Rob and Cash led to a needlessly conceded corner, from which the Worlingworth player managed to get a decent header on the ball and send it in to the top corner.
Greshams managed to reach half time at 2-0 but this was due to some strong last ditch defending and a bit of good fortune as a couple of times the woodwork came to their rescue. Cooky was unsparing with his criticism at half time and with his words ringing in their ears, Greshams went out fired up for the second half.
The half did not start as Greshams would have wanted however as their first half failings wee once again exposed when the Worlingworth centre midfielder found himself unmarked in acres of space in the box. Some great defensive work by a combination of Cooky and Rob nearly saved the day but the ball finally ended up rather fortunately in the Greshams net despite a great effort by Rob to keep it out.
However after this setback Greshams started to get in to their stride. The two strikers started to see more of the ball and were causing all sorts of problems and it was now Greshams turn to be frustrated by the woodwork. Meanwhile at last some control was being gained in midfield and for the first time Worlingworth were being forced on to the back foot. Greshams deservedly got one back when Cashen moved forward from left back and played the ball to Richard Hunn on the edge of the box. It didn't even look like a chance but Rick pulled out a sweet left footed shot that nestled in the top corner.
Soon after it was another Greshams goal. This time a longer ball from Cashen down the left picked out Hunn who advanced and found a perfect ball to Steve Norfolk at the far post. Steve beat the defender with some nifty footwork and lashed the ball home from close range.
3-2 and Greshams were back in the game with 15 minutes or so still to go. They were still living dangerously at the back as Cashen dithered in possession and was robbed by the striker who fortunately blazed over. However with the fullbacks pushing on and Froudy getting in to the game it was all Greshams for the last 15 minutes, but for all their possession they were unable to create sufficient clear chances to really trouble the Worlingworth keeper. At the death however a foul on Froudy on the right edge of the box gave Greshams one last chance. A perfect delivery just needed someone to throw themselves at the ball, but instead it flashed across the face of the goal to leave Greshams frustrated and narrowly beaten
Cooky was quick to reflect on the positive response to his half time rallying call, and the second half was a far better showing, but in the end it was another narrow defeat and Greshams need to pick up a few points to move away from the foot of the table.
Man of the match
Richard Hunn atoned for a disappointing miss in the first half with a lovely finish for the first goal and an assist for the second, and gave a good all round display of front running, particularly in the much improved second half performance. Well played mate.
