Gresley Rovers vs Stapenhill
Poole strike shakes cup holders Gresley – Burton Mail
Stapenhill, the emergent force in local football, added another triumph to their season of unprecedented success at the Moat Ground last night.
The Swans, runaway winners of the Leicestershire Senior League and favourites for the League Cup, snatched a precious one-goal lead in the opening skirmish of their Derbyshire Senior Cup final showdown with their oldest enemies in front of a crowd of almost 1,400.
Now the scene is set for a thrilling climax when battle resumes against Gresley Rovers, the holders, at Edge Hill next Thursday.
Rovers probably felt they did enough in the final 20 minutes to warrant a share of the honours after Dave Poole had given the Swans a 48th minute lead.
But this was Stapenhill’s night. They stamped their character and determination across the length and breadth of the pitch to win the hearts of neutrals on the terraces.
Mick Allsopp’s troops were prepared to run until they dropped on the hottest night of the year and it was only when their super-human effort began to take its toll that Gresley were able to take total control.
It was here, in the final quarter of the game, that the tide could have swung in Rovers’ favour as they piled relentlessly into Stapenhill territory.
Defiance was the name of the game, however, goalkeeper Dave Boulton, a mixture of fortitude and occasional good fortune, was an inspiration as Rovers pounded away. As stalwart defender Phil Annable put it: “It’s the job of defenders to get their bodies between the ball and the net and we did it well.”
The first-half yielded little in the way of chances. It was more of a sparring match in preparation for the serious business to come after the interval.
The most serious threat was delivered by Swan’s full back Ian Pearsall in the 15th minute. He continued a run forward to receive the ball 25 yards out and unleashed a rising right-foot shot which was superbly held by Bob Aston.
Gresley, struggling to match the powerful running of Chris Caulton and the Coppinger brothers Dean and Tony in midfield, were restricted to nothing more than fleeting glimpses of Bolton’s net.
Trace Norton, sadly out of touch, should have done better early on than to fire tamely into Bolton’s arm after Aston had dived bombed the Swans’ area with a huge punt forward.
The alarm bells rang more clearly for Allsopp’s men when Bolton dropped Andy Moore’s corner as half tine approached, but Annable, vigilant as ever, was well positioned to make a goal line clearance.
By now Rovers had sacrificed the services of Dean Page because of a knee injury, but it is doubtful whether the classy defender would have been able to prevent the goal that gave Stapenhill the lead in the 48th minute.
It came at the end of a move of genuine quality as Ian Jackson and Martin Fox sliced through on the left. Fox’s final pass was perfectly delivered to the feet of Brain Beresford and when the 52-goal striker’s firm shot was parried one-handed by Aston, Poole swept in the loose ball at the far post.
Beresford, unable to bring the ball under control quickly enough, failed to profit almost immediately from a prodigious piece of work by Dean Coppinger as the pace of the game suddenly quickened.
Gresley were suitable stung and their best moment so far came on the hour when Keiron Smith, fastening onto a deft head on from Graham Jones, crashed in a fierce left foot volley which forced a stunning one-handed save from Bolton.
It was the signal for a Gresley onslaught as Richard Denby and his colleagues finally broke free of the Stapenhill shackles.
Smith, denied by Pearsall’s clearance on the line, Jones and substitute Neil Lovell all came close as the Swans’ area began to resemble a pinball table and Bolton flung himself full-length to scramble Norton’s low shot away for a corner.
Gresley Rovers (0) 0
Stapenhill (1) 1
Scorer: Poole 48.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick, Guest, Denby, Haskins, Page (Lovell 41), Moore, Norton, Smith, Jones, Astley. Sub not used: Maddocks.
Stapenhill: Bolton, Pearsall, Jackson, Annable, King, Caulton, A Coppinger, D Coppinger, Poole, Beresford, Fox (Arthur 79). Sub not used: Gough.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Richard Denby.
Referee: B Rudkin (Belper).
Attendance: 1370
