Raunds Town vs Gresley Rovers
Barry spot on - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Spot-on full back John Barry joked after giving Gresley a 1-1 FA Cup draw: "I'd be happy to play against Raunds every week!"
Goals are not a notable element of the Long Eaton-based defender's game - but he hit the target to give Rovers a 1-0 pre-season win at the Northant's club's new Kiln Park ground and his 76th minute penalty on Saturday gave Gresley a deserved second bite of the cherry tomorrow evening.
A baked pitch and a stiff breeze made conditions far from suitable but Rovers carved enough chances against the team they beat 2-1 during last season's FA Vase run to have chalked up a comfortable third win.
Manager Frank Northwood grumbled: "We should have had it won by half time but Carl Rathbone was guilty of two bad misses. They didn't have a shot apart from the penalty they scored from - but I'm still very happy to be taking them back to Gresley."
The first of Rathbone's misses came after just four minutes when Dean Page's upfield punt put him clear only to shoot wide. Then Paul Acklam set up a similar chance but keeper Paul Corder palmed onto a post.
Acklam dipped an 18-yard volley inches over then made a full-blooded contact with a Rathbone cross only for defender Adam Cooksley to somehow divert the ball off the line and over the bar.
Raunds, the wind behind them after the break, went ahead when Page's challenge on John Frost was judged illegal by Dudley referee Steve Taylor - although the Rovers defender appeared to play ball, not man.
Paul Murphy beat Bob Aston from the spot to spark a purple patch by the home side and Murphy should have wrapped the game up - and added to his 100-plus goal tally for Raunds - when he rounded the keeper only to dwell too long on the ball.
Instead Rovers bounced manfully back and after Acklam had seen a point blank header superbly saved by the keeper Rathbone went down under Sean McCabe's challenge and Barry's aim from 12-yards proved unerring.
Raunds Town (0) 1
Gresley Rovers (0) 1
Scorers: Murphy 59 (pen) (Raunds Town), Barry 76 (pen) (Gresley Rovers).
Raunds Town: Corder, Jordan, Lewis, Bird, McCabe, Cooksley, Arundel, Torrance, Capone, Murphy, Frost. Subs not used: Boatswain, Herring.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Dick, Denby, Land, Page, Weston, Smith, Acklam (Evans 73), Rathbone, Lovell (Astley 62).
Gresley man-of-the-match: Paul Acklam.
Referee: S J Taylor (Dudley).
Attendance: 162
