BINGO

HEANOR TOWN 0 GRESLEY ROVERS 0

UCL PREMIER NORTH AT THE TOWN GROUND

26 AUGUST 2024 --- 3PM

HEANOR TOWN V GRESLEY ROVERS BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

Shortly after this game finished Heanor's social media was advertising bingo in the clubhouse at 8pm and this had a more exciting ring to it than the ninety minutes of football we had just witnessed.  In a game strewn with missed passes and what looked like an inability for either team to look effective going forward.  Gresley would have been the happier of the two sides having played with ten men for nearly all of the second half after Will Robinson was sent off they defended deep and Heanor lacked the ability to breakdown the Rovers defence.

After a good five years it was nice to be back at The Town Ground and an early greeting from Kim who is still at the snack bar offered a nice welcome.  Along the stand terracing Lennie Lion, Heanor's mascot, greeted me in civilian clothes and a Gresley sweatshirt.  It transpires he had moved to near today's visitors and works the snack bar although I believe may have had an outing in Elvis the Rovers hound mascot who has the most wonderful name Elvis Gresley.

CHARIE WOOD GATHERS

A fairly healthy following from Gresley were arriving and a good bank holiday crowd of 227 were in by kick off time.  Rovers would start ex Lions Jamie Sleigh and Alex Britton while for Heanor their would be a debut substitute appearance for winger Chris Politi who had just signed from Cymru South side Taffs Well.  With my interest in Welsh football it was nice to grab a few minutes with Chris while he warmed up during the first half and while he his studying locally it made sense for him to play locally too and I will be interested to see how he gets on with Heanor.

There was also a start for ex Gresley player Jack Tyson in the home teams line up.

QUIET WORD FROM THE REF WITH ROBINSON

Both sides were battling to get into the right half of the table and although I don't see Gresley much they have an lovely old style ground and an attractive home shirt that thankfully they were playing in today so I was quite looking forward to this one.

KARL DEMIDH SETS OFF ON A RUN

The first half was not to encouraging with little to mention as both sides looked to get a grip on the game, referee Lewis Hunt issued two yellow cards to the visitors players in Dylan Hunniford and Will Robinson, the latter would prove important.  When Heanor did get in crosses visiting keeper Charlie Wood was dominant as was central defender Jacob Sturgess.

But overall it did not provide a breakthrough for either side.

RED FOR ROBINSON FROM REFEREE HUNT

The second period start off terribly for Gresley when on 53 minutes Robinson was shown a second yellow card and ultimately red for kicking the ball away.  They always look harsh but are mandatory for the referee if they don't get those they are in trouble.  Overall there was not too much in terms of bad tackles in this game but somewhere referee Hunt tallied seven yellows and a red so whether there was an observer in the ground I know not.

Heanor made three substitutions on 58 one of which brought Politi into the action and although it was a tentative start when he did get some ball he settled down to very nearly score on his debut on 83 minutes driving into the inside left of the penalty box his sharp shot was saved by Wood in the Gresley goal. 

Previous to this Jack Tyson had seen his effort also saved by the visitors number one and Karl Demidh fired just wide from an inviting position.

Very quickly though the visitors got organised with their man down and thwarted Heanor who seemed unable to get behind the defence wide and get crosses in to threaten. So as the frustrations grew more passes went astray and the game took on an untidy feel to it and you just knew if Heanor had have stopped out there all afternoon they would not have scored.

REECE HORNE 

There was agony for Charlie Wood when he innocuously went down injured and then again a minute later and he was then replaced in goal by former Heanor favourite Jamie Sleigh for the closing minutes of injury time.  Sadly Wood was later confirmed to have broken his ankle so hopefully he has a quick recovery.

CLOSE TO A DEBUT GOAL FOR CHRIS POLITI

The final whistle signalled loud appreciation from the visiting supporters who had seen their side battle out a draw with their reduced numbers through injuries for this fixture and then reduced number on the day for over forty minutes by the time we had seven minutes of stoppage time.

It was a valuable point for the south Derbyshire side in the circumstances.

PHOTOS TO THE RIGHT PHOTOS TO THE LEFT AS POLITI RISES

Heanor Town wise this was a disappointing showing and although like both sides effort could not be doubted some of the football in this ninety minutes was so poor for the Heanor and neutral spectator anyway.

Saturday brings a mouth watering FA Cup tie versus local rivals Ilkeston Town at The Town Ground however on today's performance it could be a heavy defeat, but footballs a funny game so you just watch the Lions win.

Now anyone for bingo?

HORNE LOOKS TO CROSS

POLITI CHALLENGED

WELSH WINGER POLITI