Cradley Town vs Gresley Rovers
Rovers battle in the middle – Andy Parker – Burton Mail
The scoreline at Cradley on Saturday may suggest a comfortable victory for Gresley Rovers but in between early and late strikes from Paul Acklam and Carl Rathbone the West Midlands League leaders were given a torrid and testing time.
Rovers were forced to defend as desperately as they have done all season in the face of a spirited second half revival by the West Midlands Premier Division newcomers.
Rovers got off to the best of starts when Richard Wardle flicked on Land’s clearance to set Brian Beresford free on the right, the veteran squaring across the penalty area for Acklam to lash home probably the easiest of his 21 goals so far this term.
Land headed a Richard Denby free kick just wide and the Gresley skipper saw one long range effort fly over and another blocked as Rovers started brightly but Cradley were not prepared to lie down and die.
The dangerous Hughie Ledgister fired just over from 18-yards and Rovers full back John Barry cleared defender Dave Townsend’s meaty header off the line as the home side sought a leveller, then Barry’s short backpass forced Aston go down at the feet of Frank Salmon whose shot was then cleared off the line by Land.
The mercurial Ledgister clipped the top of the bar with a spectacular volley before being foiled by a last ditch Jason Minton tackle as Cradley’s impetus grew, then Aston saved superbly and bravely at the feet of Gary Osbourne, Ledgister inevitably the creator.
Just as it seemed Cradley might snatch a point, though, Acklam escaped along the left and fired in a dipping cross that Chris Meyer, making his league debut, teed up nicely for Rathbone to blast home.
Just to confirm that it was not Cradley’s day, substitute Jason Hughes then saw an 18-yard effort smack against a post.
Cradley Town (0) 0
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Scorers: Acklam 3, Rathbone 88.
Cradley Town: Nicholls, Higgins, Hampton, O’Hare (Convy 20), Townsend, Hamilton, Morgan, Salmon (Hughes 83), Hanson, Ledgister, Osbourne.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Barry, Nuttall, Denby, Land, Minton, Wardle (Elliott 56), Rathbone, Acklam, Beresford (Meyer 77), Lovell.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Gil Land.
Referee: B T Millership (Tamworth).
Attendance: 187
