Nuneaton Borough vs Gresley Rovers
On a cold, damp December evening, the action rarely warmed up the sparse crowd of less than 200.
A decent Gresley contingent made up a large part of the pitiful attendance but saw their side bow out of the Dr Martens League Cup to a single second half goal.
Gresley started brightly enough but could have fallen behind when Neil Moore connected with a Danny Williams corner and it took a fine save from Dale Belford to deny him.
The play swung to the other end and it was the turn of Boro's keeper Daren Acton to deny Shaun Harrad by saving the striker's shot at the near post.
Acton's only real moment of anxiety coming just past the half hour mark when he mishandled a Leigh Everitt drive and Liam Hebberd, looking suspiciously offside clattered the rebound against the underside of the bar.
Gareth Holmes was then called upon to deny Stuart Lake's header from finding the back of the Gresley net.
Nuneaton went close just before the interval but Belford did well saving shots from Danny Williams.
In fact Belford had few saves to make despite Boro's territorial advantage and when he was called upon he showed the save hands and positional sense that's made him one of the most respected number ones in the Dr Martens League.
Hebberd had a half-chance for the visitors for the visitor's but Moore's tackle stopped the youngster the chance of firing off a shot.
Gresley had a further chance in the early stages of the second period when Leon Doughty's deflected shot forced Acton into a fine reflex save.
Leigh Everitt had to be replaced on 62 minutes due to a thigh injury and his replacement Paul Spacey could have made an immediate impact but his shot was saved by Acton.
The all-important goal came 16 minutes from time when Matt Collins was allowed space in the area to lift the ball over the head of defender Danny Haynes and unleash a fierce angled volley over Belford and high into the top of the net from 10 yards.
Former Gresley man Gez Murphy who had been a constant threat to the visiting defence throughout the 90 minutes was denied the opportunity of doubling his side's score by Andy Cheetham's superbly timed tackle and then by a save from Belford.
Gary's view on the game
"We can take a lot of positives out of the game tonight. I said to the players that we wanted to put the disappointment of the game on Saturday out of our minds and they've done that tonight. That makes me even more frustrated with the result on Saturday.
"This is the second Premiership side we've played within the last two weeks and we've come out of the game with a lot of credit.
"I'm proud of the lads but the gauntlet as been thrown down for them to start to put in performances like that in league games because we need the points to take us back up the league.
"Yes, there were a lot of positives tonight but I'm a little disappointed that we didn't quite have the quality to see them off.
"Gez Murphy's movement was good and he's a big strong lad. We did talk about him before the game and the fact that we needed to be tight on him.
"First half I felt we restricted him mainly to long distance opportunities and Dale made one or two good saves and held on to the ball.
"I thought we were the better side for the first 30 minutes. No defence likes players like Shaun Harrad and Liam Hebberd running at them and I thought they were both superb.
"Hebberd's waited very patiently for his chance after coming back from a knee injury and he's done himself a lot of favours tonight with his performance. Particularly in the first 30 minutes both of them closed players down and got involved. I said to the lads that if we could get a goal within the first 30 minutes it would open things up.
"Carl Slater and Gareth Holmes worked hard in midfield and they were both fantastic. Gareth was suffering from a stomach upset at halftime but we asked him to go on and see out it went but it got too much for him so we put Jamie Barrett on and he did well.
"I thought the boys at the back played well. The lads' heads are a bit down because we lost the game but if we can play like that in our league games we will have no problems.
Nuneaton Borough (0) 1
Gresley Rovers (0) 0
Scorer: Collins 74
Nuneaton Borough: Acton, Clifford, Adamson, Tullin (Collins 62), Moore, Lake, Drysdale Love 62), Fitzpatrick, D Williams, Murphy, Lamb. Subs not used: Scott, S Williams, Poole.
Gresley Rovers: Belford, Everitt (Spacey 62), Cheetham, Smith, Haynes, Slater, Doughty, Holmes (Barrett 74), Harrad, Hebberd (Francis 65), Alexander. Sub not used: Clarke (gk).
Rovers Star Man: Andy Cheetham - solid at the back.
Referee: P J Kirkup (Northampton).
Attendance: 173
