Gresley Rovers vs Bilston Town
Rovers bounce back - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Striker Mark Hurst handed Gresley boss Steve Dolby a perfect hangover cure after Saturday's FA Vase semi-final defeat at the Moat Ground last night.
The 23-year-old front-runner sat alongside his new boss on the bench for an hour as Rovers spluttered and stuttered against a workmanlike Bilston side.
But when the pint-sized goal poacher finally got into the action he took just eight minutes to provide the catalyst for a vital victory.
The Mickleover-based painter and decorator neatly provided the opening for Martin Devaney's opener then applied the gloss with his first goal for the club five minutes from time.
Said a delighted Hurst afterwards: "It wasn't an easy game. The lads just needed lifting a bit but after we scored our first goal we were in control. It's good that the team's still winning when they've not played up to their usual standard. I've been stuck on 15 goals for five months so it was just nice to get one. You always wonder when your first one is going to come along and I was just pleased to see it go in."
Earlier Rovers had been pleased to see the ball stay out as Bilston took advantage of a shambolic opening quarter from the home side to pile on the early pressure.
Bob Aston almost handed the visitors a goal in the third minute when he missed former Rover Andy Moore's cross at the near post, the ball rolling along the goal line with no-one able to provide a vital touch, and Nathan Foster twice cleared headers off the line as Bilston forced a string of early corners.
Rovers began to look more like themselves as half time neared, however, skipper Richard Denby flashing a 25-yard effort inches too high and Devaney, who had missed a second-minute chance to calm his team mates' nerves, lifting the ball over keeper Alan Pemberton - and the bar.
Aston saved smartly from former Tamworth striker Mark Stanton's header as Bilston started the second half as they had the first but Rovers were soon forcing their guests to assume a more familiar defensive posture as Devaney saw a header tipped over and Tony Marsden and Paul Acklam both saw efforts bravely blocked by Pemberton.
Bilston winger Danny Williams gave a hint of the potency that Dolby had warned of earlier with a run onto Stanton's flick that forced Aston into an excellent save at the winger's feet, then Rovers had the ball in the net at the other end only for referee Curzon to order Denby's free kick to be retaken.
The breakthrough finally came with 16 minutes remaining, Hurst flicking on Richard Wardle's corner at the near post and Devaney calmly heading in at the far post for his fifth goal in successive games and his 20th of the season.
Devaney then turned provider for his new strike partner, angling a crossfield ball into Hurst's path that allowed the substitute to run clear of the offside trap and beat Pemberton with a lob that the keeper got a hand to but could not prevent from nestling into the far corner of the net.
Gresley Rovers (0) 2
Bilston Town (0) 0
Scorers: Devaney 74, Hurst 85.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Foster, Swainston, Denby, Evans, Rigg, Wardle, Marsden (Land 84), Acklam, Devaney, Weston (Hurst 62).
Bilston Town: Pemberton, Coniff, Jones, Skidmore, Bowater, Astley (Hart 79), Williams, Moore, Stanton, Baker, Bradley. Sub not used: Manton.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Richard Wardle.
Referee: B Curzon (Sapcote).
Attendance: 632
