Gresley Rovers vs Gainsborough Trinity
FA cop out for Rovers - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers' run of seven straight wins was ruthlessly ended by Gainsborough Trinity at the Moat Ground on Saturday.
The Northern Premier League side were exactly as Gresley boss Steve Dolby had predicted after a midweek spying mission; competitive, uncompromising and dangerous on the break.
Nonetheless, Dolby had forecast that his team could win their FA Cup second qualifying round tie; but he had not reckoned with their own shortcomings.
Rovers were profligate in attack, with a string of second half chances going shamefully to waste.
A series of defensive lapses compounded the felony, while there was a certain naivety about the way Gresley failed to capitalise on an excellent opening quarter.
After Craig Weston's cross had allowed Kieron Smith to poach his fourth goal in five games with a close range shot on 15 minutes, Rovers failed to prevent Trinity wresting back the initiative.
Their power in the air was a major factor in the equaliser, Richard Logan winning a towering header and Gray Hurlstone's neat pass allowing Simon Dwyer to wriggle into the six-yard box and fire into the roof of the net.
Dwyer showed a nasty streak when he appeared to stamp on Gil Land, the defender's understandably angry reaction nonetheless ensuring both players saw a yellow card.
There was more misery two minutes after the restart when full back Daryl Fox was allowed space and time for a cross that put midfielder Neil Horwood in the position to test Bob Aston in the air. The keeper failed to collect and Logan nipped in to fire in the loose ball from 15 yards.
Gresley responded well, testing the defensive mettle of their visitors, and should have levelled after Richard Wardle set Weston free but he fired straight at the keeper.
The payout for that blunder swiftly arrived, Fox knocking a free kick into the box, Horwood again winning a vital header and Logan pouncing to fire in a volley.
Gresley roared back but again their finishing let them down, Weston just wide after Richard Denby's header had sent him clear. Denby saw a piledriver blocked by a defender before Robbie Briscoe's inch-perfect cross found Mike Taplin free on the edge of the six-yard box but the striker took too long to bring the ball down and another chance was lost.
Gainsborough ended the agony when Bob Aston made a miserable hash of clearing a backpass and Colin Bishop set up Logan for his hat trick.
Gresley Rovers (1) 1
Gainsborough Trinity (1) 4
Scorers: Smith 15 (Gresley Rovers); Dwyer 34, Logan 47, 64, 77 (Gainsborough Trinity).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick (Lovell 77), Briscoe, Denby, Evans, Land, Wardle, Elliott (Swainston 60), Smith, Weston, Taplin.
Gainsborough Trinity: Newcombe, Fox, Shaw, Bennyworth, Horwood, Jenkinson, Eley, Bishop (Mallender 82), Dwyer (McGuire 82), Logan, Hurlstone.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Richard Wardle.
Referee: N G Prost (Nottingham).
Attendance: 748
