We started badly on a very heavy, muddy pitch and the early pressure from Shirebrook led to a couple of half chances in the first 10 minutes of the game and in the 12th minute they broke the deadlock. An unchecked run through the middle and a low shot that Adam didn't hold on to was tapped in from 3 metres. You could tell Adam was annoyed with himself. Just four minutes later and Shirebrook broke through our defence and Adam came out almost to the edge of the area and made 3 consecutive block saves but was unable to prevent the home side increasing the their lead. Brilliant stuff from Adam but disappointing that there was little defensive support with only Elliot getting back to try to clear.
Whether it was down to Adam's efforts, or getting used to the mud bath of a pitch, or even coming to terms with Shirebrook's 3 man defence, I'm not sure. But we started to see a little more of the ball and use it better when we had got it. Shirebrook's 3-5-2 formation had also began to turn more into a 3-4-3, so Dom and Corie started to look like their usual selves in the middle. Sam Graney was sent on in place of Cory Moody who looked a little out of sorts and we finally began to put pressure on their goal.
We got back into the game on 31 minutes. A good ball from Dom sent Zac away down the left. He skipped around the full-back to the bye-line and pulled the ball back to Corie, who completely miss-kicked his shot. The ball fell to Foxy who didn't...he buried into the back of the net. More Manor pressure saw us win a couple of corners in a couple of minutes and Shirebrook getting 10 men back in the box to defend them. One corner was cleared as far as Brad 35 yards out. His shot was unstoppable; the keeper just watched it fly into the corner. A contender for goal of the season and a great equaliser to take us to half-time at 2-2.
The second half saw us take control of the midfield and put some great pressure on the home defence. Corie managed a couple of good runs and on 47 minutes a glorious through ball sent Simon clear. He took it to the edge of the 18-yard box and curled a fantastic shot around the keeper, only to see it rebound back off the post. Dom 'the bomb' was creating havoc with his long throws, managing to reach the near post with throws from way outside the area. Foxy and Sam got their heads onto a couple, Chris saw his effort saved and Graney's came back off the post with the keeper stranded.
For the majority of the 2nd half we restricted the home side to breakaways and chased clearances. Ryan and Wraggy dealt with most either by clearing up themselves or by passing back to Adam for him to clear. On three occasions Shirebrook did beat our defence and Adam made superb one on one saves. However, with four minutes left, Brad went down under pressure as the home side broke through and the striker this time managed to slot the ball by Adam to give Pride of Shirebrook the points. We threw everything at them until the final whistle but they held on.
In my view, Manor FC were the pride of that part of Shirebrook battling back from 2-0 down, to control the game and go away with an undeserved defeat. No question about Man of the Match this week, Adam Redfern, but great performances from everyone from the 20 minute mark on.
