King's Lynn vs Gresley Rovers
Rovers' reshuffle comes up trumps - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers were forced into their biggest reshuffle of the season at The Walks on Saturday - but Steve Dolby's Moat machine still fired on all cylinders to comprehensively overpower Kings Lynn.
That gave the Rovers boss even more cause for satisfaction after seeing his side maintain their 100 per cent start to the season.
Delighted Dolby said afterwards: "We've had injuries and we've had changes but I asked the players all to do their own jobs - and I thought they did ever so well."
In truth Gresley were never really tested by a poor home side but Dolby said: "The one thing I was disappointed with was that we relaxed after going 2-0 up and let them score. Then we immediately stepped it up and scored our third - which said a lot."
Rovers could almost be excused for taking their feet off the gas pedal, such was their dominance right from the off.
It took just five minutes for them to go ahead, Robbie Briscoe laying the ball back for Kieron Smith to hit a deep left wing cross and Paul Acklam darting away from his marker to crash a monumental header into the top corner of the net from 10 yards.
That marked the start of an almost constant barrage that yielded a second when Acklam blocked a clearance to allow Mike Taplin to home in on goal through the inside left channel and score with a precise low shot inside the far post.
Lynn briefly threatened to make a game of it when Mark Howard forced the ball over the line after Dave Robinson's left wing cross had sparked rare panic in the Gresley penalty area.
But within four minutes more smart attacking play from Gresley ended with Acklam crossing from the right and Taplin getting the faintest of touches on Tony Marsden's goal-bound half volley.
As if to atone for robbing his team mate of a goal, Taplin was crucially involved in Rovers' fourth on the hour, controlling Craig Weston's early pass and crossing perfectly for Marsden to head emphatically home from six yards.
Kings Lyn (1) 1
Gresley Rovers (3) 4
Scorers: Howard 40 (Kings Lynn); Acklam 5, Taplin 32, 44, Marsden 60 (Gresley Rovers).
Kings Lynn: Lewis, Prior (Spauls 70), Webster, Worthington, Maxwell, Bunting, Fryatt, Watts (Frohawk 60), Scotney, Howard, Robinson.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Swainston, Briscoe, Wardle, Evans, Land, Weston (Elliott 71), Marsden, Smith (Lovell 78), Acklam, Taplin.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Tony Marsden.
Referee: PW Hill (Cambridge).
Attendance: 357
