Gresley Rovers vs Farnborough Town
It was as if all Gresley Rovers' birthdays had come all at once at the Moat Ground on Saturday.
The run of the ball may not have favoured Gresley all that much hitherto this season, but this was a day on which everything went Rovers' way and nothing Farnborough's.
This should not disguise the fact, however, that this was one of Gresley's better performances since joining the Beazer elite last August, albeit against a Farnborough team jaded by the demands of a congested fixture list.
Certainly the notion of Rovers being relegated looked as far fetched as that of Farnborough returning to the Conference as Rovers made hay in an astonishing nine-minute spell in the second half.
In that short segment of the game the Moatmen ran in three goals – none of them straightforward – leaving Farnborough bereft of both hopes of a comeback – and their manager.
All this came on top of a first half in which clear cut chances were decidedly few and far between.
Rovers had made the first, David Holmes rising to meet a Graeme Rigg corner only for his header to be cleared from under the bar by full back Wayne Stemp. Then Martin Devaney and Mark Hurst linked to give Holmes a shooting chance but his thumping effort was too near keeper Maik Taylor.
Then came Farnborough's turn to go close, Stuart Evans selling Bob Aston short with an underhit backpass, Chris Boothe hitting the ball past keeper, Nick Stanborough clearing unconvincingly of the line then slicing it clear again when Steve Baker made a mess of despatching a clear cut chance into the back of an empty net.
This meant the first honours ended up fairly evenly shared, although Town should have taken the lead in with them at the break, Rovers allowing Boothe time and space to pick out Trevor Senior with a right wing cross that the inrushing striker headed straight into Aston's midriff.
Goalless though, at the break – but not for long. With the second half clock yet to tick around its first minute David Holmes had turned one defender, cut inside another and fired in an angled shot from the left that beat Taylor with the aid of a deflection.
Farnborough hit back immediately but after Evans had redeemed his earlier lapse by blocking Bradley Pitt's goalbound effort Rovers were two up.
Dave Swainston, ranging forward along the left, tried a long range shot that turned into a perfect cross and Hurst, quicker than anyone in the Farnborough defence to sense the danger, despatched a six-yard shot via the keeper and a post.
If Farnborough were sent reeling by that blow they hadn't seen anything yet. Within a minute Swainston again got forward and when Taylor grasped his mis-hit cross under the bar Rovers fans behind the goal yelled that the ball had crossed the line.
A linesman concurred and Town manager Alan Taylor was shown the red card for taking an outspoken lead in a widespread chorus of indignant but futile protest.
Rovers were in dreamland but Farnborough were in disarray and after Ian Straw had seen a shot blocked by a defender Hurst made it 4-0, crashing the loose ball into the roof of the net after Graeme Rigg's shot had rebounded off Taylor's shins, Martin Devaney the creator with a run to the byeline and a neat cut-back into the midfielder's stride.
Farnborough, their title chances draining away, made a double substitution but when Brian Broome set up Simon Read with an open goal the newcomer shot wide of a gaping target to sum up their fading fortunes. The visitors were battling for no more than consolation now but they were denied even that as the faultless Aston twice saved from Senior.
Gresley Rovers (0) 4
Farnborough Town (0) 0
Scorers: Holmes 46, Swainston 53, Hurst 55, 61, .
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick (Elliott 78), Swainston, Straw, Evans, Stanborough, Wardle, Rigg, Hurst, Holmes (Marsden 82), Devaney.
Farnborough Town: Taylor, Stemp, Walters, Turkington, Pratt, Terry (Read 63), Booth, Senior, Baker (Broome 63), Jones, Horton.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Bob Aston.
Referee: R J Morris (Redditch).
Attendance: 656
