Evesham United vs Gresley Rovers
Rovers rock the Robins
An explosive first ten minutes was the platform on which Gresley Rovers built
a solid performance that gave them a deserved three points at Evesham.
Evesham, normally a difficult place for visitors, were rocked by a stunning
ten minute spell as Gresley played what John McGinlay called great football.
Gresley came out looking to build on the tremendous 5-3 victory at Cinderford
and immediately put the home defence under pressure.
On 6 minutes the pressure paid off. Andy Cheetham's free kick was collected
by Simon Tucker who held off his markers and squared the ball to Aidan Callan.
Callan then beat the keeper with an accurate low drive.
The Robins barely had time to draw breath when they found themselves 2-0 down.
A superb Chris Gray corner to the near post was rammed home by Tucker as the
home defence were all at sixes and sevens.
Evesham's nightmare start was made even worse just two minutes later when the
visitors went 3-0 up. Gray whipped in a free kick to the back post where it
found the head of Stuart Evans who made no mistake in powering home a header
for his first goal of the season.
Things could surely get no worse for the Robins but it almost did on 15 minutes
when Dave Whittaker was "scissor tackled" by Jay Powell and Shane
Duff when running in the penalty area, but despite a strong appeal the referee
judged that the tackle was fair to the amazement of the Gresley players and
fans and waved play on.
Evesham posed no or very little threat to the Gresley goal with the only attempt
on goal being a very feeble effort by Phil Preedy easily dealt with by James
Lindley.
Gresley's constant attacking pressure could only result in another goal and
it came on 33 minutes.
Tucker, looking more like the goal scoring menace he proved to be in his last
spell with Gresley, played a superb one-two with Bourne and raced into the area.
His run was brutally brought to an end when Russell Parmenter felled him when
through on goal giving the referee no option but to point to the spot.
The resulting penalty kick was taken by Whittaker who sent the keeper the wrong
way as he slammed home the ball.
On 38 minutes Gresley were denied another perfectly good goal when Ian Bluck
rose to head in a Callan free kick but the referee decided that Bluck had fouled
his marker.
It was no more than Gresley deserved to be 4-0 up as they had thoroughly out
played Evesham during the first half.
The second half could not be as entertaining as the first and so it proved.
Gresley appeared to take their foot off and allowed the home side a little more
action.
On 53 minutes Evesham were given a consolation goal. James Brown one three
substitutes made at half time by the Robins' manager, picked up a throw in and
hit what looked like a nothing shot from the edge of the box. The low effort
curled through a crowd of players and crept in at the far post.
This proved to be a false dawn as the home side created very little and looked
a well-beaten side.
Just before Tucker was substituted he should have had another penalty when
he was tripped after playing a one two with Whittaker but again the referee
would have none of it and waved away the protests.
Gresley were content in the end to just defend their margin and Evesham must
have thanked their lucky stars as they trudged off the park because the deficit
should have been bigger and they could easily have been by beaten by 6 or 7
goals by a rampant Gresley side.
This result continues the run of impressive results against what many think
are the stronger teams in the league and augurs well for next season.
The manager's view of the game
"I thought the first half performance was absolutely tremendous. The movement
was excellent and we played some great football on a difficult pitch.
"This is a hard place to come to but we thoroughly deserved the victory,
and it could have been by a greater margin.
"I though the referee was shy on a couple of penalties and could not see
anything wrong with the goal Ian Bluck had ruled out.
"For us to have gone in five or six up at half time would not have been
undeserved as we totally outplayed them.
"It was difficult at half time because, at 4-0, the players think the
game is already won and I had to try and gee them up.
"The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that we did not keep
a clean sheet that would have rounded things off but it was a great result because
Evesham are one of the teams around us and they got a good 2-2 draw with Weston-super-Mare
in midweek.
"There was not a poor performance from any one of them today and I thought
the movement of the front two was excellent you can tell they have played together
before."
Evesham United (0) 1
Gresley Rovers (4) 4
Scorers: Brown 53 (Evesham United); Callan 6, Tucker 8, Evans 10, Whittaker
(pen) 33 (Gresley Rovers).
Evesham United: Steadman, Smith, Cudworth, Duff, Powell, Parmenter (Mullen
45), Wolsey, Webb, Preedy, Ross (Pratt 45), Carter (Brown 45).
Gresley Rovers: Lindley, Bluck, Cheetham, Coates (Peters 83), Wardle,
Evans, Bourne (Withers 87), Callan, Whittaker, Tucker (White 68), Gray.
Gresley
Star Man: Chris Gray - always a threat.
Referee: S Humphrey (Swindon).
Attendance: 138
