Matches

Match report by Martin Candler

After a 45 minute delay at the beginning of the match caused by a floodlight failure, the Blues tore into Altrincham straight from the kick-off. In the 4th minute, Aaron McLean, put in by Michael Kightly, neatly chipped Alty’s goalkeeper, Stuart Coburn, to open the Blues’ account and the home fans prepared themselves for a for a goal- fest. But perhaps the combination of a physically hard run of games recently and the bitter injustices meted out to them on Friday night at Mansfield took more out of them than Grays’ supporters imagined. Mark Stimson made three changes from the F.A.Cup game with Cam Mawer, in for the suspended Andy Sambrook, and Nicky Eyre and Gary Hooper getting the nod over Dennis Oli and Ashley Bayes respectively. Our Leader said “Nicky is a very talented keeper, as is Ashley, and they are very close..I just thought Nicky deserved a chance...I had a chat with Dennis and explained I thought he needed a break…Altrincham made it really hard for ourselves tonight…we couldn’t get that second goal to kill the game off.” As the half wore on, the visitors steadied the ship and began to disrupt Grays’ rhythm, posing a few problems up front without really looking like finding a killer punch.

Jamie Slabber came closest for the Blues when he forced Coburn into a good save from a Johnny Martin free-kick, before Warren Peyton fired wide for the visitors, as did Kightly for Grays. Eyre then saved well from James Robinson following a good move involving Ged Murphy and Val Owen, the latter being thwarted once more by a saving tackle by Lee Matthews.

The second half lacked cohesion and both sides introduced two attackers, Oli and Glenn Poole for Grays and Keiron Lugston and Kyle Wilson for Altrincham in an attempt to give the game more urgency. It was John Nutter, having another fine game, who responded best in the Grays ranks with a goal attempt and then a penetrating run and cross which was headed over by McLean, when perhaps Slabber was better-placed to score.

Altrincham, sensing that Grays were tiring, and driven on by the powerhouse Owen stuck to their game plan doggedly and continued to embarass a far from secure home defence. There was an air of inevitability when Lugston poked home the equalizer in the dying moments to give the visitors the point they had worked so hard for. Grays have gained 11 points in the final 10 minutes of games this season so perhaps it was only a matter of time to be on the receiving end of a last minute strike. A muted performance then from the Blues which, let us not forget, still leaves us just a point behind the only league team to beat us, Accrington Stanley.

Grays Athletic: Eyre, Mawer, Matthews, Angus, Nutter, Hooper (Oli 60), Thurgood, Martin, Kightly, McLean (Poole 74), Slabber.
Subs Not Used: Bayes, Olayinka, Koo-Boothe

Goalscorer:
A McLean (3)

Bookings:
A McLean (22)
J Slabber (35)

Att: 1,028

Fans Man of the Match:
Lee Matthews

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