Coalville Town 1 Kidsgrove Ath 1 - Grove fightback earns a point
Kidsgrove earned a point from a trip to a bitterly cold Coalville on Saturday, coming from behind in a scrappy game that saw numerous bookings for each side.
Athletic made one change from the side that had beaten Belper 2-0 the previous week, with Steve Brannan coming into the starting line-up in place of Ashley Carter.
Coalville applied the early pressure and on six minutes, Steve Hodgson made an uncharacteristic error, flapping at cross, but fortunately for the goalkeeper, Adam Goodby was unable to covert the resulting loose ball. Almost immediately afterwards, Sam Hall conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area that Cameron Stuart drove straight at Hodgson.
Hall was then involved at the other end two minutes late as he shot narrowly wide from 20 yards after Steve Brannan had floated a free-kick into the danger zone.
Even at this early stage, the game was being punctuated by a series of fouls, and neither side seemed able to take control. On the quarter hour, Dave Walker broke free on the left wing and delivered a cross that Karl Charlton met at full stretch, but could not quite keep the ball low enough as it went over the bar.
Ross Davidson and Danny Smith then teamed up nicely on the right, with Smith eventually finding Hall in a central position. After taking a touch to gain control, he was unfortunate to see his well-struck shot deflected out for a corner.
Free-kicks continued to provide the best attacking threat from either side, and on 27 minutes, Callum Woodward tested Hodgson from a central position, but the Kidsgrove keeper was more than equal to the challenge and held the ball comfortably. In response, Danny Griggs delivered a cross into Charlton from another set-piece, but his flicked header went just wide of Sean Bowles' left hand post.
Coalville took the lead on 34 minutes, perhaps unsurprisingly from the penalty spot. Jonathan Crompton slid in on Anthony Carney in the area to concede a penalty that WOODWARD tucked into the corner of the net.
Athletic were almost back level within a minute as Griggs was fouled 20 yards out from goal on the left. He chose to shoot himself this time, firing in a powerful effort that smashed into the angle of post and crossbar with Bowles well beaten.
The visitors were then forced into a first-half substitution, something that has been a remarkably common occurrence this season. Hall suffered an injury to his ankle in a challenge and was replaced by striker Darren Twigg.
The teams then exchanged a couple of long-range efforts, firstly from Woodward and then Griggs, which an increasingly uncomfortable looking Bowles could only parry, but fortunately for him, the loose ball evaded any of the waiting Kidsgrove players.
In the final action of the first half, Smith sliced an attempted clearance just over the crossbar and from the resulting corner, Hodgson needed to be alert to tip a header from Goodby over.
The second period began in similar fashion to the first, with Coalville looking to take control. After a free-kick had been cleared, home midfielder Karl Demidh scuffed his shot well wide. After this initial burst, however, Kidsgrove began to play some good football. On 55 minutes, a long ball was flicked on by Twigg into the path of Walker, but Bowles was just quick enough to block his shot.
Six minutes later, Athletic produced an excellent passing move from left to right. The ball once more reached Twigg, who played in WALKER. Although it looked like the chance had gone after he chose not to strike he ball first time, the striker kept his composure and saw off a couple of half-hearted challenges before rolling the ball past Bowles.
At this point, Grove looked like the most likely to push for the win and just a minute later launched another good attack that saw a cross into that Twigg and Bowles challenged for. Although no foul was given, play was stopped for an injury to the keeper just as Davidson was about to deliver the ball back into the box.
Kidsgrove then won two corners which ended when Brannan shot wide from 20 yards, and then Griggs dribbled past three defenders before unleashing a shot that skimmed past the post with Bowles standing motionless. Griggs and Charlton then had further half chances, but neither could seriously threaten the home side's goal.
On 78 minutes, Coalville's Woodward burst forward, and after escaping Davidson's challenge broke into the area and had penalty shouts turned down after Andy Taylor was deemed to have won the ball. Woodward and Hodgson then clashed as the game became a little niggly.
As the game drew to a conclusion, Davidson did well to intercept a ball out of the Coalville defence. Davidson found Walker on the right, and although he was unable to pick out Griggs, Charlton won possession back, before laying off to Craig Dove whose cross was headed wide by Twigg.
This final ten minutes saw the football somewhat swamped by a series of fouls and bookings. Both sides had some possession within the opposition's area, but neither had the final touch to earn a victory.
Team: Hodgson, D Smith, Dove, A Taylor, Crompton, Charlton, Brannan, Hall (Twigg 38), Walker, Davidson, Griggs
Share Last updated: 11th December 2011, 12:37