Bloxwich United vs Gresley Rovers
Allsop grabs a brace
Manager
John McGinlay made two changes from the side that lost to Rocester for the match
at fellow Dr Martens Western Division side Bloxwich United.
Kevin Allsop playing his first full game since February and Chris Gray being
preferred to David Shaw and Mark Peters who were on the subs bench.
It was Allsop who made the most of his opportunity by grabbing both goals.
The result earned the Moatmen a home tie against another Dr Martins Western
Division side Redditch United.
Bloxwich might have taken the lead when Michael Mason put Harris, who was a
yard offside, through but he could only fire a weak shot straight at James Lindley.
On 20 minutes the first chance came for Gresley when Kevin Thompson was booked
for a foul on Lee Westwood. Unfortunately the resulting free kick was put well
over the bar.
Gray made a run avoiding three tackles before passing to Allsop who put his
shot just wide of the post.
Bloxwich then switched the play to the other end of the pitch with Lindley
denying Thompson on the edge of the box.
The home side should have gone in front on 38 minutes when a good run by Quilt
set up Ross whose first touch was poor enabling Stuart Evans to make the clearance.
Towards the end of the first half Gresley began to take charge with Chris Parkins
brilliantly creating a chance for Woolley whose shot on the turn landed wide.
On 41 minutes Gresley broke the deadlock. There seemed little on when Wardle
touched the ball inside to Barry Woolley whose probing ball fell to Allsop who
found himself in space and the big striker comprehensively beat the stranded
Ross Bate with a well placed chip.
Gresley made a bright start to the second half and minutes after the re-start
it should have been 2-0. Parkins set up Allsop who skipped a couple of challenges
and forced a corner.
Allsop then turned Lee Westwood's corner against a post and Woolley's rebound
forced a desperate goaline block by Tom Stevenson.
Minutes later a long clearance by Ian Bluck sent Parkins clear who tested the
home keeper with a stinging low drive and Gray's follow up attempt also blocked.
With 20 minutes to go Bloxwich, with nothing to lose, made a determined bid
to force the equaliser.
James Lindley did well to tip over a searching cross-shot from Nick Carter
and then on 88 minutes made an even better save to push clear Mason's low shot.
Gresley made sure of the win deep into stoppage time.
In the fifth minute of injury time, Parkins took advantage of a tiring defence
and made his way to the by-line before rolling the ball back into the path of
Allsop who side footed the ball home.
However, the win was soured by the loss of two of their most experienced players
midway through the second half.
Skipper Stuart Evans suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury while Richard
Wardle was forced to withdraw with a suspected broken nose.
The Manager's view of the match
"We dug out a result today.
The first half was pretty even and then Kevin Allsop scored just before half
time.
For 20 minutes of the second half we had to defend before breaking clear to
score the second goal.
We knew they would come at us during the second half but we dug in and defended
well and caught them on the break.
We needed to score goals today and big Kev has got himself fit and answered
the call by scoring two.
The match today was a very battling game as you would expect at Bloxwich and
I'm very pleased with how the lads stuck to the task and with the result.
The down side to today's game is that Richard Wardle has a suspected broken
nose and that Stuart Evans appears to have a slight hamstring problem.
I'm now looking forward to playing Redditch in front of our fans in the next
round on September 15th."
Bloxwich United (0) 0
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Scorer: Allsop 41, 90
Bloxwich Utd: Bate, Dunne, Mole (Sale 75), Stevenson, Newall, Thompson
(Hampson 57), Harris, Beckett (Carter 57), Quilt, Ross, Mason.
Subs not used: Rowe, Taylor.
Gresley Rovers: Lindley, Bluck, Cheetham, Westwood (Peters 65), Woolley,
Evans (Middleton 70), Gray, Green, Allsop, Parkins, Wardle (Bedward 70).
Subs not used: Roberts, Shaw.
Rovers
Star Man: Kevin Allsop - took his chances.
Referee: S Flanaghan (Wednesfield)
Attendance: 164
