Gresley Rovers vs Pelsall Villa
Bezza is just the tonic – Andy Parker – Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers huffed and puffed to victory over struggling Pelsall in a manner far less convincing than the score suggests.
With considerable assistance from their obliging visitors, Rovers dominated to an embarrassing degree but found it difficult to convert their superiority into a suitable score line.
Coach Steve Dolby said: “We started well but didn’t put our chances away. In the second half we struggled for 15 to 20 minutes and we started to lose our way. Gilly Land’s goal came just at the right time for us and after that we finished the job nicely.”
Not for the first time, Rovers had arch goal grabber Brian Beresford to thank for showing his colleagues the location of the net. A Richard Denby cross that came back off the woodwork was the sum total of their efforts until Frank Nuttall’s challenge in midfield freed “Bezza” to score clinically.
More near things followed but Gresley were beginning to get bogged down when Beresford’s dummy wrong-footed the defence, allowing Land to score with a delicate shot from eight yards.
Beresford claimed his second when Bob Aston’s mighty boot cleared the Pelsall defence then went within inches of his hat trick with a dipping shot.
But Beresford – and Pelsall’s dithering defenders – still had one more contribution to make, full back Dave Haytree inadvertently teeing up the striker’s cross to give Paul Acklam a goal in injury time.
Gresley Rovers (1) 4
Pelsall Villa (0) 0
Scorers: Beresford 29, 70, Land 67, Acklam 90.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Dick, Denby, Land, Evans, Weston, Rathbone (Smith 77), Acklam, Beresford, Nutall (Wardle 65).
Pelsall Villa: Peace, Lycett, Haytree, Coles, MacDonald, Clenton (Hall 60), Overton, Gough, Dyer, Stephens (Broadway 36), Duffus.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Brian Beresford.
Referee: M J Archer (Kidderminster).
Attendance: 433
