Sam Ralph - Manager

Going in to the break at HT although we were trailing by a goal if it hadn’t been for 2 great saves from Ryan Howes it could have been a mountain to climb in the second half, the lads took on board the clear direction given to them at half time and got the equaliser 6 minutes into the second half to then go behind again shortly after conceding a goal from a corner, with the last kick of the game Kieran Wells drew us level for us to take a point from the game.

I felt we missed quality in the final third today and made poor decisions too often in the game in all areas of the pitch. We have worked hard to develop a particular way to play and that went missing today which is disappointing.

We got exactly what I expected from Gedling a tough game where they played to there strengths to try and dominate us physically in all areas of the pitch, we miss that edge to our game at times and thats something that is really difficult to develop in a player/group.

We’re now however 4 games unbeaten and have built a strong gap between us and the bottom 3 which was my first objective when I took on the managers role. We’re within 3 points of the top 10 with 13 games left to play so will continue to do all we can to finish this season in a respectable position and build toward next season.

We face a tough game next weekend against Clay Cross so will train hard on Tuesday evening in preparation and hope to see a good turnout to support the lads.

Cheers Ralphy
UTBM

Jack Jeys - Head Coach

A great game of football with chances for both sides to take 3 points but a fair result in the end with a 2-2 draw.

The game started as we expected with Gedling being a physical in your face team. Both sides had chances early on to take the lead but both keepers pulled off some great saves to prevent that happening.

We played some good football in the middle of the park transitioning from the back but our decision making was very poor in the final third. Giving the ball away in what should be simple possession play come back to bite us as just on the brink of half time Gedling took a quick throw in which found their player unmarked in our box who finished it nicely into the far left corner.

Half time we were disappointed and we expressed that in our team talk. Not doing the simple things cost us infront of goal and in a game where we had chances to be 2 or 3 up at half time we found ourselves 1-0 down with an uphill battle second half. We set clear instructions to the lads to go out second half and give us the reaction we expect.

The team talk proved successful and the lads took on the instructions as within the first 10 minutes of the second half similar to gedlings first half goal, a quick throw in down the left hand side squared across to Beno who was unmarked gave him time to pick his corner and slot the ball past the keeper to level the scoring.

We were on top and back in the game looking like we would go on now and score a few more but unfortunately just 6 minutes after our equaliser Gedling had a corner that saw their centre half first to it to head into the back of the net.

From there it continued to be a very entertaining game of football with end to end chances and Dunkirk playing some good football. There were a few questionable decisions from the referee some clearly obvious that had an impact on the game however we should never have to rely on referee decisions and we need to make sure we take our chances.

Going into the final minutes with Dunkirk piling on the pressure attack after attack it looked as though Gedling were going to hold out for 3 points. But then in the dying seconds of the game the ball finds it way into the Gedling area with what only looked like a mad scramble to find Kieran Wells who smashes the ball into the roof of the net!

A fair result for both sides at the end of an entertaining game of football with both sides going at it. We can’t ignore though that again if we finished our chances infront of goal we could have earned all 3 points. But that’s football and that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Shout outs today go to Ryan Howes who pulled off some fantastic saves in crucial points of the game, Talib Copeland who made his debut for us today and done well when he came on and Kieran Walsh for earning us a point with the last kick of the game. Man of the match though today goes to Darragh Walsh who I thought defended really well and didn’t make any mistakes as well as dealing with a very difficult 1 on 1 in the late stages of the game allowing us to go on and earn a valuable point! Well done Darragh.