Gresley Rovers vs Wednesfield
Last gasp Rathbone - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Carl Rathobone last-minute equaliser saved face for Gresley but could not conceal another inadequate league performance by the Moatmen on Saturday.
Rovers dominated the first 55 minutes but never tested Wednesfield keeper Steve Clarke until they were chasing a game they should have won comfortably.
Moat old boy Andy Moore - one of four ex-Moatmen in the Wednesfield 13 - inadvertently sparked Gresley's revival with a 65th-minute second goal for the Black Country outfit.
After that Gresley finally produced a cutting edge that may ultimately have given them a barely deserved victory.
Manager Frank Northwood summed up hot-and-cold Rovers' problems when he said afterwards: "The burning question is: 'Why does it take two goals before we step up a gear?' It was, in my opinion, a poor Wednesfield side that should not have lived with us."
Once Rovers had recovered from the trauma of presenting Paul Moore with a seventh-minute chance that he spooned up into Bob Aston's grasp rather than in the back of the net, they hogged the ball for the whole of the first half without creating a single decent chance.
Indeed, Wednesfield must have gone in at the break feeling aggrieved at not being ahead. Mick Fulland having a close range opportunity that would have been a goal had he managed to connect with a low cross.
Paul Moore caused more problems with a cross-cum-shot that Aston tipped over just after the restart before Craig Weston's push on Darren Bradburn gave Neil Morgan the opportunity to fir the visitors ahead from the penalty spot.
Rovers' response was frenzied but Wednesfield still carved the best chance to increase their lead, Moore bringing a fingertip save from Aston with a curling shot before rising unchallenged at the far post from Morgan's subsequent corner to bury a header.
Gresley then introduced Brian Beresford and pushed impressive new boy Frank Nuttall into midfield with telling effect, "Bezza" crossing from the left for Carl Rathbone to score with a precise header. The story then become one of chances missed until Rathbone repeated his earlier effort, this time from Barry's right wing cross.
Gresley Rovers (0) 2
Wednesfield (0) 2
Scorers: Rathbone 69, 90 (Gresley Rovers); Morgan 55 (pen), A Moore 65 (Wednesfield).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Nuttall, Denby, Land, Page, Weston, Smith (Beresford 59), Acklam, Rathbone, Lovell (Evans 75).
Wednesfield: Clarke, Beattie, Brotherton, Astley, Perry, Wilde, A Moore, Bradburn (Rowley 84), P Moore, Fulland, Morgan (Hill 75).
Gresley man-of-the-match: Carl Rathbone.
Referee: G R Hamblin (Birmingham).
Attendance: 456
