Guiseley vs Gresley Rovers
We're so proud of you! - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
There were countless might-have-beens for Gresley Rovers to reflect on today, but one thing was never so certain - the best team won the FA Vase at Bramall Lane last night.
Rovers, undisputed kings of the comeback trail, were left dejected riders without a horse by a mighty Guiseley side who never allowed the South Derbyshire heroes to repeat their marvellous Wembley revival of three days previous.
Sweeper Steve Astley, whose first half free kick gave Gresley a fleeting moment of ecstasy, said afterwards: "All this season we've turned up a gear when we've needed to - but tonight that gear wasn't there."
There was nowhere to turn for Rovers from the 43rd minute when Mark Tennison, Guiseley's two goal Wembley marksman, turned in the penalty area and planted a low drive past Bob Aston into the bottom corner of the net to cancel out the lead Gresley had carved out just two brief minutes earlier.
Then three minutes after the start of the second half, Dean Walling's spectacular flying header put the Yorkshiremen ahead and this time there was no way back for the Moatmen.
Indeed, after Peter Atkinson had fired Guiseley into an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 69th minute it became a question of how many the all-whites would score to rub in their overall superiority. Rovers had to dig deep again - but this time it was to keep a hold on their dignity.
And yet - those might have beens.
Rovers, a minute from victory on Saturday, could still have pulled something from the fire.
On the hour, a superb looping header by Kieron Smith looked destined for the back of the net, but Guiseley keeper Paul Maxted pulled off a marvellous save, tipping the ball out of the top corner.
Six minutes later, Stuart Stokes produced a thrilling run from midfield, powering the ball into the Guiseley box. And when two defenders converged to snuff out the chance, it seemed Gresley must at least get a free kick for obstruction.
Instead, the ball was carried from one end of the field to the other in a clinical breakaway and deposited in Rovers' net.
Even then there was a Paul Acklam header straight at Maxted and an Atkinson header that came back off his own bar. But they were passing moments for Rovers in a maelstrom of Guiseley attacking.
Gresley had never settled from the moment Bob Aston jangled the nerves by allowing the ball to bounce off his shins in the penalty area, leaving Tennison with the chance to hack the ball goalwards - and just wide.
Just three minutes were on the clock.
Rovers were not on their defensive mettle. Acklam hit a backpass straight to Walling and the centre forward almost netted after nicking the ball off Aston in the penalty area. Stokes and John Barry dropped backpasses short too as a malaise spread around the Rovers rearguard that Guiseley did nothing to discourage.
Kieron Smith saw a shot blocked at the opposite end, then found himself a yard short after Carl Rathbone had produced a marvellous turn and low cross past the face of goal.
But the flow was in the opposite direction, even after Guiseley's Stuart McKenzie, injured late in Saturday's game, was carried off.
And so, when Rovers suddenly took the lead on 41 minutes, there was briefly a hint of injustice about the scoreline.
Rathbone was the creator, Stokes' pass gave a rare chance to run at the Yorkshiremen but Martin Tetley intervened with a trip to become one of five Guiseley players booked.
Astley lined up the kick 25 yards out and, although his contact with the ball was not good, the diving Maxted somehow allowed the ball to find its way over the line.
Said Astley: "We could have done without them getting a goal straight back. If we could have held them until half time perhaps we could have squeezed something out of it. But it wasn't to be.
"We felt bad about the way they equalised. The winger just blasted the ball into the box and it stuck under the player's foot. He just turned and hit it."
If there was, however, an element of good fortune about that goal, the strike that put Guiseley on the road to victory was pure class. Substitute Paul Bottomley found an unoccupied right wing channel in which to advance and clipped in a near post cross that Walling headed into the top corner before Aston could move.
Aston produced a superb save to keep out Bottomley's half volley before the interval, but in the end that proved just a token gesture of defiance.
Atkinson made it 3-1 after a sweeping breakaway and, as Gresley threw everything into their hopeless quest for revival, Billy Roberts was thwarted only by an excellent, last-ditch Scott Elliott tackle, Alan Roberts fired over when he should have added Guiseley's fourth and finally substitute Ian Noteman saw an incredible 30-yard effort bounce back off the crossbar.
Manager Frank Northwood told his crestfallen troops during a subdued homeward journey: "You've got to take it on the chin, lads - you've lost to a better side. But you did tremendously well to get there - everybody's proud of you."
And as South Derbyshire reflects on Gresley's historic achievements in the months to come, there's many a fan who will unhesitatingly drink to that.
Gresley Rovers (1) 1
Guiseley (1) 3
Scorers: Astley 41 (Gresley Rovers), Tennison 43, Walling 48, Atkinson 69 (Guiseley).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Elliott, Denby, Land, Astley, Stokes (Weston 70), Smith, Acklam, Rathbone, Lovell. (Adcock 54).
Guiseley: Maxted, Atkinson, Hogarth, Tetley, Morgan, McKenzie (Bottomley 36), Roberts, Tennison (Noteman 81), Walling, Annan, Roberts.
Referee: C Trussell (Liverpool).
Attendance: 7585
