Grays Athletic 3 Rushden & Diamonds 1
Tue, March 27, 2007. Kick off: 7:45 PM
Match Report By Martin Candler
In a blistering opening to the second half, Grays blew away any hopes that Rushden held of maintaining their 11-match unbeaten run, by notching three goals in three minutes. The hero of the night was Aaron O‘Connor whose strong, elusive running was crowned with two fine goals. With Simon Downer making an assured debut in a solid-looking defence, Grays opted for a 4-3-3 formation and dominated the first half but, again, lacked confidence and penetration in the final third of the pitch. After six minutes O‘Connor was wide, then Alex Rhodes had a shot deflected for a corner and Dennis Oli‘s effort was saved by keeper Scott Tynan.
Typical of any side put out by Gary Hill, Rushden adopted a physical approach early on but prompt bookings by the excellent referee Mr.Sheldrake, meted out to the aggressive Mark Albright and Curtis Woodhouse, allowed the game to flow. In the latter stage of the half, the game became scrappy as Grays looked punchless in front of goal and the home crowd began to wonder if it was to be another “one of those days”.
They need not have worried because a brace of goals from O‘Connor and one from Oli between the 48th and 51st minutes put the Blues out of sight. Oli made the first with a clever through ball to O‘Connor who fired across Tynan; the second, by O‘Connor again, who scored from a pin-point Stuart Thurgood free-kick and finally, Oli rounded things off with a turn and curling shot into the corner of the net. Grays were now playing with fluency and style and Ashley Nicholls almost made it four when, after a clever run and cross on the by-line by O‘Connor, saw his shot shave the post with Tynan beaten. In the 90th minute, sub Simeon Jackson scored a consolation goal for the visitors with a deflected shot over Danny Knowles, given his chance ahead of Ashley Bayes.
A vital win which keeps our hopes of Conference survival on track and a performance that goes in some way to answer criticism of the feeble efforts at Altrincham and, particularly, Stafford Rangers.
Grays Athletic: Knowles, Downer (Barness 73), Sambrook, Stuart, Tonkin, Oli, Nicholls, Thurgood, Martin (Harding 85), Rhodes (Griffiths 62), O'Connor.
Subs Not Used: Bayes, Howell.
Booked: Stuart.
Goalscorers: O'Connor(48, 50), Oli(51)
Attn: 762.
Ref: D Sheldrake (Midlands).
Fans man of the Match: O'Connor
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
© Graeme Truby
|
