Gresley Rovers 3 Pinchbeck United 0
Boss Lewis Thorogood refused to be too downbeat after seeing his Pinchbeck United side soundly beaten at much-fancied Gresley Rovers on Saturday.
Goals from Mason Frizelle (5), Daniel Munday (31) and Steve Hart (82) gave Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North new boys Gresley all three points at the Moat Ground.
Thorogood, who called Rovers one of the title favourites prior to the game, admitted that he’d seen nothing to change his opinion on Saturday.
But he was buoyed by Pinchbeck’s performance and felt that Nathan Moss’ saved penalty in the second period would have been a deserved consolation.
“They are a very good side,” admitted Thorogood. “I have no complaints whatsoever about the result.
“What I will say is that we gave away a few too many silly set-pieces against a side that have an abundance of very tall players.
“Physically, we struggled to deal with them from free kicks and it cost us goals.
“But I felt we defended well otherwise and by the end could really have grabbed a consolation goal that would have been very much deserved.
“We can look at Gresley as something to aspire to, be it their experience, their recruitment or their performance on the day.
“I don’t think too many sides will go there this season and return home with maximum points, that’s for sure.
“For us, I felt we competed well and there are certainly plenty of things for us to be happy about performance-wise.”
Pinchbeck had a new face in their starting line-up, having signed ex-Stamford talent Harry Peasgood.
Knights: Smith, Worthington, Stevens, Peasgood, Fixter (Machin 53), Spafford, Armond, Johnson, Opayinka (Gagyi 74), Moss, Havard.
Attendance: 150.
