Gresley Rovers vs King's Lynn
It's Rovers by a fluke - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers teetered on the brink of disaster at the Moat Ground last night.
Like a drowning man going down for the third time Rovers saw their promotion hopes flash before them as King's Lynn hauled themselves back from two goals down to come within a missed penalty of snatching away two points - and virtually condemning Steve Dolby's team to a place among the Beazer Midlands also-rans.
But in the end a fluke goal by full back Dave Swainston on his comeback from a seven-game absence, scored after his strike colleagues had missed a veritable hatful of chances, proved enough to keep Rovers in the frame with just four games to go before promotion D-Day.
It all started well enough for the Moatmen with the Linnets, capable of mustering only 12 men for their first visit to South Derbyshire in 63 years, looking very much the part of relegation strugglers.
Rovers fluently dismantled the East Anglians' defence seemingly at will with top scorer Martin Devaney flashing one early effort wide from 18 yards then crashing a close-range shot against the crossbar after Stuart Evans had headed down a Richard Denby free kick, Paul Acklam following up to head the rebound over from six yards.
Amends were soon made when Acklam and Mark Hurst linked in the penalty area and Devaney arrived to crash home a right foot shot for his 25th goal of the season.
King's Lynn, to their credit, refused to buckle, throwing men forward at every opportunity to try and stem the red tide, but Devaney should have added to his total before half time when he raced clear onto Denby's through ball.
Steve Lewis was caught in no man's land but the striker opted to blast the ball rather than lift it over the keeper and it deflected to safety.
Rovers kept up the momentum after half time but had Lady Luck to thank for their second goal, Swainston's cross from deep on the left deceiving Lewis before going in off the post.
But 10 minutes later it all started to go wrong. Bob Aston came to the edge of his box for a routine collection job but somehow allowed the ball to squirm from his grasp, leaving Shaun Frohawk, grateful but incredulous, to walk the ball into an empty net.
That was the signal for Rovers' composure to fall apart and Aston was soon called on to redeem himself with a smart save at the foot of a post after Dave Robinson had outpaced Richard Wardle on the left.
Hurst could have steadied the ship when Swainston's pass sent him clear but Lewis produced an excellent one-handed save and defender Tim Maxwell completed the job by blocking Acklam's attempt to force home the loose ball.
Then, more disaster at the opposite end. Stuart Evans attempted to play the ball out from a tight corner and lost possession to Frohawk, whose left wing cross struck Graeme Rigg in the penalty area, a linesman judging that the defender had deliberately handled.
Robinson lined up the kick that promised to consign Rovers to certain humiliation but, to the immense relief of the 672 crowd, his left foot shot posed a far greater threat to the green houses of Oxford Street than to Rovers' dignity.
Rovers still contrived to maintain the tension, Acklam missing a great chance carved out by Scott Elliott and Denby, then Elliott racing clear onto a superb through ball from substitute Mike Taplin, rounding the keeper and rolling the ball wide of an empty net.
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
King's Lynn (0) 1
Scorers: Devaney 16, Swainston 59 (Gresley Rovers); Frohawk 69 (King's Lynn).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick, Swainston, Denby, Evans, Rigg, Wardle, Elliott, Acklam (Taplin 85), Devaney, Hurst (Weston 75).
King's Lynn: Lewis, Fryatt, Stewart, Webster, Raspberry, Maxwell, Frohawk, Worthington, J Howard, M Howard, Robinson. Sub: Stannard.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Martin Devaney.
Referee: D L Timmins (West Bromwich).
Attendance: 672
