UniBond League Division One South
Hall Corner, Glapwell
Tuesday, 7th October 2008, 7.45pm
Rovers' Dismal Run Continues
For the umpteenth time so far this season Rovers found themselves a goal down after hardly running onto the field.
With less than a minute on the clock the visitors where behind when a long throw was flicked at the near post to where Ian Brown was waiting totally unmarked to just head the ball into the net.
To their credit Rovers did hit back on 8 minutes with skipper Carl Slater thumping a shot from 25 yards past Glapwell's keeper Laurence Mathewson.
Glapwell were inches from regaining the lead on 20 minutes when Neil Grayson collected a poor clearance from Sam Wilson and picked out Ian Brown but the final shot when wide.
Grayson could consider himself very lucky to have remained on the pitch when he seemed to lead with his elbow catching Jamie Hood in the face but the referee Mr Marshall took a very lenient view of things just waving the yellow card to the much travelled player.
David Blenkinsopp, who has recently looked a little out of sorts went agonisingly close firing a shot on the turn that flew just wide of the upright with Mathewson rooted to the spot.
The striker went close again three minutes later but this time his shot went over the bar.
Rovers were having a good spell with Jamie Barrett trying his luck and seeing his shot whistle the wrong side of the post.
On 42 minutes Rovers went close again when Miles Chamberlain's header from Oliver Hancock's corner was headed off the line leading to an astonishing few moments as Glapwell's goal led a charmed life with Blenkinsopp having three decent shots in rapid succession blocked by a combination of keeper and defender.
From the resulting corner a half clearance fell to Blenkinsopp and as he steadied himself to fire home he was brought down in the area but the referee waved away the appeals. Almost on the halftime whistle a post denied Glapwell from taking the lead again.
A couple of minutes into the second half Rovers' keeper Simon Baldwin made two very good saves first blocking a stinging volley and then has Grayson followed up and looked certain to ram the ball home Baldwin dived at the veteran's feet and got a fingertip to the ball pushing it away from danger.
However, after keeping his side in the game Baldwin was caught cold for Glapwell's second goal. Ian Brown managed to get the better of Chamberlain and with the Rovers' keeper well off his line the frontman coolly lobbed the stranded keeper and the ball sailed into the far corner.
Glapwell's third goal was caused by the referee succumbing to an appeal from the home side that Chamberlain had handled the ball just outside the 'D' but the ball had clearly hit the defenders chest.
With the Rovers' wall not harking to Baldwin's loud instructions to move to their right Micheal Fox struck a low shot just were the wall should have been and past Baldwin and into the bottom corner.
Blenkinsopp hit yet another shot just over the bar before Glapwell almost made it four. Ian Brown turned his marker and ran into the area but Baldwin did well to block the shot.
On 78 minutes Blenkinsopp went close when he hit a shot across the face of goal but just past the far post.
Substitute Tom Liversage then sent over an inviting free kick that fellow substitute Kevin Lock could only head past the far post.
With only minutes remaining Hood went close putting his header, from Louis Briscoe's cross, fractionally over the bar and Baldwin making another good save to deny the homeside.
Manager's View
"Tonight was the same old story in terms of our soft underbelly when defending. Thirty five seconds into the game and we concede a goal in that manner and to be fair to Jamie Hood he's held his hand up, he switched off at the throw in and their man has put the ball into the net.
"After that he was magnificent but unfortunately we found ourselves yet again away from home with a situation to get out of and we did. We responded well and Carl Slater has got us back in the game with a cracking strike.
"Arguably I think we had the balance of chances in the first half but in the second half their second half was endemic of how we defend. We've worked so, so hard with the defence - people dropping off and covering and yet one ball has done us again.
"We know what we've said to the players in the dressing room but Miles (Chamberlain) got done, he's got no covering defenders around him and Simon's (Baldwin) is caught in no mans land and the guy's lobbed him for the second.
"The third goal, I'm not sure if it's gone straight through the wall or to the side of the wall but Simon's screaming and screaming for his wall to go right you've got people not set, you've got people not organised and we can't keep having to score two or three goals to win football matches.
"We've got to start defending and throwing bodies in the line like they did in that little period, the pin ball period as I call it, late on in the first half when quite how we've not scored I'm not sure but that's how to defend with desire and commitment. You get any limb, any bit of your body possible into the ball to stop it going into the net and we've got some defenders who are not prepared to do that.
"It's not a case of organisation it was a case of switching off at the wrong time. These lads have had more organisational training than we've ever done and they know the system we are playing and the job we are asking them to do and it's very evident what's gone wrong.
"We've not had to do a team talk in there after the game the lads have picked out what we wanted to say. They've identified the problems themselves and they've got to put it right themselves obviously with our help.
"We are fuming to be honest, the sequence of results we are in at the moment we are not happy at all. Arguably the effort, attitude and application were there tonight but the quality wasn't. We missed some very good chances tonight that on another night would have gone in but having said that if they had gone in we were still conceding silly, silly goals that our junior sides would be annoyed at conceding.
"Jamie (Hood) knows he's on a tight rope at the moment and we were looking for a reaction from him if he was going to go silly after the early clash but fair play he kept his cool. He's got to do that game in game out, he's going to be put in those positions because people on the circuit know that Jamie is a hotheaded player. He's a combative player and people like Grayson and one or two others are big forwards and they put themselves about and he's going to get caught now and again and he's got to learn to take it. That's all part and parcel of being in football and he's done that tonight and we are hoping he carries on doing that.
"After that first minute where he switched off he was magnificent tonight and was the pick of the back four.
"Simon Baldwin made a couple of good saves but his kicking was poor and he's low on confidence at the moment and I don't think his defenders are helping him out which isn't his fault but I wasn't happy with his kicking tonight as he put us under a lot of pressure. He's a good shot stopper and he's trying his hardest for us and well just see what develops.
"We were hoping to bring Sam Hall as it was all agreed over a week ago that we would get the Trophy game out of the way. We were trying to get him in for the Belper game but Hednesford didn't want him cup tied in the trophy which was understandable. It was all supposed to go off over the weekend and then we got hold of Hednesford on Monday morning to arrange the paperwork but something occurred over the weekend and they are a bit light of players over there. They've got a game on Wednesday and before they let Sam go they need to bring someone in that they've been working on and the deal's taking a bit longer.
"Hednesford's manager rang me again today to say it's still on pending no problems tomorrow night and him getting a player or two in. We are still very keen to bring Sam in. I spoke to Sam on Monday and he was very disappointed because he wanted to be involved tonight, he still wants to come and we'll pick that one up after Hednesford's game tomorrow and try and get it done for the weekend.
"Lincoln who we play on Saturday haven't started their season too well like us so it should be an entertaining game! I went to see Lincoln the other week against Carlton to prepare for the Carlton game and they're not a bad outfit. They've got this hoodoo at home because they've not picked many results up there but they'll have seen that they are playing Gresley Rovers next they'll be rubbing their hands with glee no doubt.
"If they had anyone here tonight then they might not bother training on Thursday because they can just turn up and score at will it seems. I say that tongue in cheek but we've work to do with the lads. We had them in last night (Monday) after we weren't happy on Saturday but we didn't do anything too heavy so there can be no complaints about being leggy.
"I think you could see that out there tonight, there were no leggy players. We worked on shape, we worked on shape, we worked on shape but yet again people switching off at key times and it's costing us at the moment and whether those people remain in the side in the coming games is to be seen."
