After a drubbing away at Finningham a few weeks earlier, Greshams were after some revenge as they congregated at the Club. It was the day before the St Jude storm and the wind was already whipping up and was going to make conditions difficult.
The Greshams squad was good for numbers and lined up with Rob in goals: back four of Sam, Cookie,Hamblin and Cash; in midfield Froudy, Rob, Potter and Hunn; up front Steve and Steve with Rich Minns and the academy on the bench. Greshams even had a non playing linesman in the shape of Josh.
Greshams had the strong wind in their faces in the first half but started the game in confident fashion. Indeed the opening period saw Greshams play some of their best football of the season so far. Given the conditions they avoided long balls and instead passed the ball short and to feet, playing a game that was good to watch and enjoyable to be involved in. Despite the advantage of the wind, Finningham just couldn't make any headway and in the entire first half, all Rob had to do was gather one dangerous looking cross.
Greshams on the other hand were playing great football and saw a few chances come and go, and were finding the Finningham keeper in good form. However given the conditions it was pleasing for Greshams to reach half time with the game still at nil nil.
Half time Greshams 0 Finningham 0
Surprisingly, Greshams seemed to find it more difficult to play their passing game with the wind at their backs. However the conditions did mean that now Greshams were dominating territorially and it was surely only a matter of time before the breakthrough. The goal did finally come and while the scorer was no surprise, being Froudy, the manner of the goal certainly was. Froudy is not renowned for his left foot but on this occasion hit an absolute left foot screamer which left the keeper clutching at air and simply flew into the top corner to give Greshams a well deserved lead.
Unfortunately however they couldn't hold the lead for long. Finningham's striker is a quality player as Greshams know to their cost. In the lead up to the goal the ball seemed to have gone out of play, which may have distracted the Greshams defence, but they still had chances to clear before the striker scored out of virtually nothing, under challenge from Hamblin and Cookie he managed to get the shot away which squeezed between Rob and his near post.
Despite this setback kept the pressure up and could perhaps should have taken the lead when Steve Burton found himself unmarked in the area only for his lovely curled shot to hit the post. It dropped beautifully for Froudy, following up, only for him, too, to hit the post from more or less point blank range. Fortunately Greshams didn't rue these chances as with ten minutes to go, Steve Burton threaded a nice little pass through for Rob Minns to run on to. Rob took the ball forward and finished with the calm composure he showed in being top scorer last season. With only one goal in it, a nervous finish might have been expected but in fact Greshams saw out the last ten minutes in relative comfort. The only shame was that with the game so tight manager Cashen was unable to give the subs a run out but at least Greshams held on to seal three a vital points. Man of the Match
A tough one to call after a good all round team performance. Froudy had to be in with a shout after his left footed screamer but this week the Dom Perignon goes to a defender. Cooky kept the dangerous and prolific Flyers centre forward firmly in his pocket for much of the match and earns the bubbly for a fine display. Well played mate.
