Sutton Coldfield Town vs Gresley Rovers
Total Eclipse of the Town - Andy Parker - Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers, and especially striker Simon Tucker, wasted no time in impressing
new boss John McGinlay as they posted an emphatic Cup victory at Sutton Coldfield.
Fired up for the challenge, Rovers put a poor Sutton side on the back foot
from the off with lethal Tucker firing two goals inside the opening 10minutes.
After that it was always a question of how many McGinlay's new charges would
win by with the only blip of the evening being Sutton's 73rd minute consolation
goal from veteran defender Adam Whitehouse.
Otherwise it was plain sailing all the way beneath an appropriately red eclipsing
moon on the treacherous Coles Lane pitch.
With the crunch of the players' studs a clear indication of how icy the playing
surface was, the sure-footed Tucker made the home side pay for two indecisive
pieces of defending in the opening minutes with Ian Bluck able to claim assists
for both goals.
First the defender's through ball gave Tucker the chance to chase down the
inside left channel and although defender Kevin Jones and keeper Andy Higgs
both arrived on the ball ahead of the Rovers striker, the pair dithered sufficiently
to allow Tucker to steal the ball and fire into an empty net.
Then Bluck's clearance sent Tucker on his way again with winger Richard Gardner
screaming to be released down the centre.
Instead Tucker, not untypically, allowed a posse of defenders to converge on
him in the Sutton box before sidestepping the lot and placing a precise, right-foot
shot around Higgs and inside the far post.
Sutton were undone and Kevin Allsop soon went close to a third for Rovers after
Steve Coates had won possession on the edge of the box with Tucker then heading
in from Allsop's nod-on only to be denied his hat-trick, temporarily, by an
offside flag.
Matt Warren, bravely charged down Michael Griffiths' shot with the striker
then putting a good chance wide from six yards as Rovers were momentarily undone
at the back.
But the visitors were soon back on top with Jamie Roberts testing the keeper
from 25 yards.
The third goal arrived on the stroke of half time as Gardner curled in a left
wing corner and Warren, arriving late at the far post, volleyed home.
Sutton, to their credit, never gave up and the game became a more closely contested
affair in the second half with Rovers never looking like giving up their lead.
Skipper Richard Wardle should have added a fourth from Tucker's cross but his
effort was charged down then Allsop fired just too high after another sweeping
move, Darren Warrican responding with a 20-yard effort that flew just over at
the other end.
Whitehouse gave Sutton a glimmer of hope when he converted Marc Coogan's free
kick from close range with 17 minutes left but Tucker made certain the night
belonged to Rovers when he controlled a clearance, exchanged passes with Neil
Broadhurst and contemptuously rounded a defender before completing his hat-trick
with a low, left-foot shot across Higgs' dive.
Sutton Coldfield (0) 1
Gresley Rovers (3) 4
Scorers: Whitehouse 73 (Sutton Coldfield); Tucker 6, 10, 82, Warren 45 (Gresley Rovers).
Sutton Coldfield Town: Higgs, Moran (Began 52), Coogan, Whitehouse,
Jones, Behan, Judd, Warrican, Griffiths, Ferguson (Marshall 63), Joynson; sub
not used: Randell.
Gresley Rovers: McGing, Roberts, Cheetham, Bluck, Warren, Broadhurst
(Doughty 87), Wardle, Coates, Allsop (Sidhu 77), Tucker (Reynolds 84), Gardner.
Rovers
Star Man: Simon Tucker - lethal finishing.
Referee: C Sargison (Rugeley)
Attendance: 60
