Droylsden 1 Grays Athletic 2
Sat, September 1, 2007. Kick off: 3:00 PM
Match Report by Martin Candler
Justin Edinburgh gave both Adam Gross and Craig McAllister their full League debuts at Droylesden‘s Butchers Arms ground and saw his team register a second successive away win. Resting James Lawson, Danny Kedwell and Mark Marshall, Grays enjoyed the greater possession in the opening half without creating too many clear cut chances. A Steve Daly shot for the home side, which went wide, was answered by a scuffed Aaron O‘Connor shot and an Ernie Cooksey header, neither effort troubling Paul Phillips in the Droylesden goal. Then the lively Dennis Oli won a free kick and Jamie Day(on in the 16th minute for the injured Charlie Hearn) found McAllister but his header was off-target, a miss he repeated soon after with another header wide of the goal. From a move down the left involving Gross and Cooksey, Donny Barnard was unlucky to see his shot hit the post.
After the restart, Terry Fearns fired against the post and from the rebound Daly shot straight at Ross Flitney. However in the 54th minute, the Blues took the lead when O‘Connor struck a shot across goal and McAllister slid the ball home at the far post, the ball appearing to hit a defender on its way into the net. The Bloods responded by pressing hard for an equaliser; Daly‘s effort hit the bar, but he was not to be denied for in the 63rd minute Danny Warner‘s cross found him in the six-yard box and he headed home to put the home side level. Soon after, O‘Connor rounded Phillips only for Colin Cryan to clear off the line. With Gavin Grant on for Cooksey, Grays struck the killer blow in the 84th minute, when O‘Connor, fed by McAllister, again went round Phillips but this time made no mistake with a shot from an acute angle that wrapped up the points for the Blues. A hard fought game then in which Grays showed some good touches against a spirited Droylesden side.
Grays Athletic: Flitney, Sambrook, Stuart, Ashton, Barnard, Cooksey(Grant 69), Gross, Oli, Hearn(Day 16), McAllister(Kedwell 86), O'Connor
subs not used: Knowles, Watson
Goalscorers: McAllister(55), O'Connor(85)
Booked: Day(36 Unsporting Behaviour)
Ref: M Naylor
Attn: 592
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