Gresley Rovers vs Littlehampton Town
Wembley beckons - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
An 85th minute goal by Littlehampton and a brief, brutal outburst of lunacy from the terraces took some of the shine off what was, in every other respect, a great and glorious Gresley Rovers victory at the Moat Ground on Saturday.
Rovers travel to the Sussex coast at the weekend for the second leg of their FA Vase semi-final with a two goal lead after comprehensively outplaying their guests for 45 minutes, riding their luck for 30 and - almost - decisively turning the screw in the final 15.
Two-goal hero Kieron Smith, whose sixth-minute goal gave Rovers the perfect start and whose 83rd minute header could prove crucial to his side's chances of appearing at Wembley on May 4th, summed up the feelings of the Gresley camp when he said afterwards: "It was a shame we couldn't hang on to our three-goal lead, but we know we've got a job to do in the second leg and we won't be complacent."
Littlehampton manager Carl Stabler claimed his side's first half performance was "the worst we have played all season" - but the Marigolds certainly did enough after the break to convince even the more optimistic South Derbyshire supporter that Gresley face a hell of a game at the Sports Field on Saturday.
Littlehampton's eager thrusting performance after half time made the second half a complete contrast to a first completely dominated by Gresley.
The southerners defence was in disarray when Carl Rathbone curled a perfectly weighted cross into Smith's path with the 1,942 spectators still settling in.
Smith, clear on the right of the penalty area, matched the pass with a superb finish, firing a low shot across keeper Mickie Philips and into the far side of the net.
That set the tone for the first half as Littlehampton were made to look a poor second best.
Such was Gresley's domination that full back John Barry was able to spend much of his time probing the right flank and from his 28th minute cross Gresley scored their second.
Neil Lovell hammered the ball back from the left and full back Addie Skietes - later to complete a miserable afternoon by limping off injured - turned the ball into his own net from just two yards.
That was just reward for Gresley's dominance and there could and should have been more goals as flustered and flapped at a stream of crosses.
Littlehampton desperately needed to reverse the trend and quickly succeeded in doing so. Gresley were suddenly forced to concede ground and after just three minutes Bob Aston had to leap to his left to palm away Andy Horns 18-yard shot. Then Terry Withers, not for the last time, exposed Barry for pace and Steve Bates sent a looping header just over Aston's bar.
Gresley came back with Acklam heading just wide but were still unable to regain control and the outstanding Paul Bicknell shot just over after Aston punched weakly at another Withers cross.
Enter Steve Adcock into the fray, replacing an exhausted Rathbone, and on 83 minutes Gresley put one foot on the steps of Wembley.
The substitute made space on the right for a near post cross and Smith escaped his marker to head over Philips.
Alas, the precious advantage lasted just two minutes. Mark Bennett's hard, low shot from the right was palmed into John Bailey's path and the substitute buried the chance from close range.
The goal sparked a pitch invasion by spectators purporting to be Littlehampton fans during which Rovers' Scott Elliott was laid out by a headbutt.
Police quickly restored order and marched the offender away, but the afternoon had been tainted and neither side could be reasonably expected to raise their game again.
Gresley Rovers (2) 3
Littlehampton Town (0) 1
Scorers: Smith 6, 83, Skietes (og) 28 (Gresley Rovers), Bailey 85 (Littlehampton Town).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Elliott, Denby, Land, Astley, Stokes, Smith, Acklam, Rathbone (Adcock 75), Lovell. Sub not used: Weston.
Littlehampton Town: Philips, Prees, Skietes (Swanton 32), Hammond, Bates, Bicknell, M Bennett, Horn, P Bennett, Withers, Guille (Bailey 82).
Gresley man-of-the-match: Kieron Smith.
Referee: S J Lodge (Barnsley).
Attendance: 1942
