|
21.07.2007 @ 15:00 Hartsdown Park |
Crowd: 350
|
|
Margate
|
2 - 2
|
Grays Athletic
|
The bedding-in process for Grays Athletic continued in Margate on Saturday as the Blues ground out a draw.
Grays got off to a perfect start. In the second minute, the referee awarded them a penalty after Margate defender Smith was adjudged to have handled in the area.
Danny Kedwell sent the keeper the wrong way and neatly slotted the ball home for his first goal of the season.
The penalty came after a neat move on the left hand side. Cooksey, Gross and Murray worked hard to develop an understanding with neat triangular moves. Not all came off but there were many encouraging signs.
Jamie Stuart, captain in the absence of Stuart Thurgood (who was on Best Man duties) showed great authority in marshalling his defence and the team.
Margate started sluggishly in defence, leaving Grays danger players such as Oli and Kedwell with far too much room. Grays had seven clear cut chances in the first 30 minutes but squandered all of them. The positives were that Oli looked very confident and showed great balance. The shooting still needs honing.
Watson and Kedwell put in the hard yards up front as they constantly chased, harried and providing options for the midfield. Kedwell, whether in the hole or an out and out attack has an aggressive streak in his game which gives the team added bite.
Hearns and Murray found it difficult to put an imprint on the first half but distributed the ball to the wings as well as linking with the attack.
The defence were relatively untroubled until the 30th minute when Margate received a free kick just outside the area on the right hand side.
The Grays three man wall seemed a body short and gave Margate's talented left footed midfielder Jimmy Jackson a perfect opportunity to curl the ball to the right of the wall and past a helpless Ross Flitney.
Grays didn't panic but continued to structure their game around a solid passing game. It was good to see Sambrook and Gross linking up on the flanks and Cooksey giving the team much needed width.
Fair reward came in the 38th minute. Margate found Oli's lateral movement and invention very difficult to handle. A neat passing movement ended with Kedwell in space, shooting from just inside the area past keeper Chalmers-Stevens.
Justin Edinburgh rang the changes at half time as he tries to give as many players match practice as possible.
Kedwell continued to forage away, now partnered with Aaron O'Connor in attack but Grays' momentum was disrupted in the 53rd minute when defender Jon Ashton, was stretched off after falling heavily heading away a Margate corner.
Soon after another sub, El Kholtl became involved in an altercation with a Margate player. After a very promising 45 minutes last week, he was clearly becoming very frustrated at receiving very little ball. He let the opposition get to him and the ref wisely advised Justin Edinburgh to substitute him.
Grays, now playing makeshift defenders stuttered and Margate, who had been pushing forward were able to press home the advantage.
In the 69th minute, Dean Standen latched on to a Charley Side pass to shoot low and hard past Danny Knowles.
Grays pushed on in the last 15 minutes.
Craig McAllister came on and looked a class apart. He looked strong and sharp and seems to have that talent for finding space at will. Even in this cameo role, he looked like he could develop an fine understanding with Aaron O'Connor.
O'Connor looked dangerous and was involved in two goalmouth scrambles near the end.
Grays didn't panic to get a win in the friendly but continued to construct moves with a fluent passing game. One move in the 80th minute involved 15 passes, it broke down but promised great things to come.
After the game a philosophical Justin Edinburgh said: "The main focus is preparing the lads for the opening game of the season.
"The first half was good. We looked sharp and I was especially pleased with the way many of the players linked up.
"But we stuttered in the second half and events dictated that we neve really got going until the last 15 minutes."
"We'll continue to use as many players on Tuesday at Harlow."
Physio, Dickie Harper confirmed that Jon Ashtons injury wasn't as bad as first feared.
Goals
Margate: Jimmy Jackson (31), Dean Standen (70)
Grays: Danny Kedwell (2 pen, 38)
Margate Starting Lineup
Scott Chalmers-Stevens
Justin Skinner
Louis Smith
Jay Saunders
Dean Standen
Jimmy Jackson
Nick Bagley
James Pinnock
Charlie Side
Jimmy Jackson (possble error)
Subs
Rob Haworth -> Charlie Side
Ben Payne -> ?
Paul Axon -> Nick Bagley
Darren Van Hinsburgh -> Jimmy Jackson
Steve McQuire - Justin Skinner
Ricky Lunn -> Charlie Side
Grays Athletic 1st Half Lineup
Ross Flitney
Andy Sambrook
Jamie Stuart
Simon Downer
Adam Gross
Charley Hearn
Dennis Oli
Karl Murray
Ernie Cooksey
Ben Watson
Danny Kedwell
Grays Athletic 2nd Half Lineup
Danny Knowles
Andy Sambrook
Jamie Stuart
Jon Ashton
Adam Gross
Matt Bodkin
Jamie Day
Charley Hearn
Abdou El-Kholti
Danny Kedwell
Aaron O'Connor
Subs
Luke Woodward -> Jon Ashton
Craig McAllister -> Danny Kedwell
Dennis Oli -> Abdou El-Kholti
Karl Murray -> Charley Hearn
Report by Michael Casey
Thanks to the Thurrock Gazette for the report
|
|
|