UniBond Presidents Cup 1st Round
The Moat Ground, Church Gresley
Tuesday, 23rd September 2008, 7.45pm
Leek Plugged by Rovers
This was a scintillating game of football fast flowing with Rovers looking dangerous every time they went forward.
However it was the visitors who had the first half chance on just 3 minutes when Steve Brannan fired wide.
At the other end Kevin Lock hit a volley straight at keeper Richard Froggatt after a free kick taken by Robbie Banks.
Banks looking very dangerous made a fine run that forced the Leek defenders to put the ball out for a corner. Nathan Morris's header from Banks' corner was held by Froggatt.
On the half hour Rovers had a scare when keeper Simon Baldwin came racing out of his area to try and clear the danger but Ben Mills got there first and was unlucky to see his lob fall wide of the far post.
On 39 minutes Rovers took the lead when Froggatt failed to hold Sam Wilson's cross. The ball bounced along the bye line where Brian Woodall collected it and ran towards goal. Froggatt then brought Woodall down with the referee pointing to the spot and booking the keeper.
Top scorer David Blenkinsopp smashed the spot kick straight down the middle giving Froggatt no chance.
Rovers came out for the second period looking determined to add to their one goal lead and totally dominated proceedings from then on.
Banks was proving to be a thorn in the flesh for the Leek defence forcing them to give away a series of free kicks to prevent him getting into the area with nearly every run.
Woodall had the first chance of the second half having been picked out by Lock but his shot went straight to the keeper.
Minutes later Wilson brought out a good save from Froggatt who acrobatically tipped the long-range drive over the bar.
Mills had a rare chance for Leek racing in on goal but with only Baldwin to beat Jamie Hood got back to make a perfectly timed last ditch tackle to deny the frontman.
Rovers got the goal their second half play deserved on 72 minutes. A free kick from Hood was helped on its way by Lock who headed towards Jamie Barrett who in turn headed it on to Blenkinsopp who blasted the ball into the net.
Action switched to the other end where Baldwin made the save of the night diving to his left to tip the goal bound shot from Mills round the far post.
However, Rovers increased their lead again as a result of some superb flowing football. Blenkinsopp made a good run down the left and seeing substitute Mickey Lyons unmarked just inside the centre of the area picked him out with the perfect pass that Lyons hit into the top corner.
The fourth goal was the result of a move that left Leek floundering as Rovers ripped them apart deep into injury time.
Carl Slater found Woodall on the right who nutmegged his marker before running on towards the area where he sent in a low cross that Slater got on the end of knocking the ball home.
The victory was no more than Rovers deserved as Leek proved to be a poor second in almost every department on the night.
Manager's View
"We are delighted with the response tonight. The only downside is that it's not a league game.
"We said on Saturday and we still believe in what we do and we've put a great performance in tonight. The difference is we didn't make any individual errors and that gives you the foundation and platform to continue the good work we started from the opening period of the game.
"I thought from start to finish we dominated Leek a very good side for very much ninety minutes apart from odd little spells. That's as dominant a performance as we've seen here for a while so I'm very pleased.
"There were several good performances out there today and Robbie Banks was due one because I've started to put a bit of pressure on him. I brought him here because I know he's capable of that but he hasn't quite delivered it.
"In fairness of Robbie he's been a bit stop start with injuries and various things and I saw on Saturday that he was getting frustrated as well with his performances because he knows what he's capable of doing as well.
"But tonight he's got a really good shift in and he's built on his fitness levels and some of the football he played, the foot work and wing play was superb.
"It's difficult to single an individual out because every single player from the goal keeper through to number eleven. Even Mickey Lyons coming off the bench and scoring was fantastic. Kevin Lock had a superb game although he didn't get on the score sheet.
"Brian Woodall's trickery for the fourth goal was fantastic. The frustration with Brian is what are we going to get on Saturday? Are we going to get that sort of performance or a little bit less, which we will take, or are we going to get an anonymous performance? That's the chats we've been having with Brian because he's such a frustrating player.
"Hopefully everyone will take the confidence and it'll be a shot in the arm. There were no points at stake tonight just through to the next round and we've got to start delivering in the league and get some more points on the board.
"We were desperate for the clean sheet. I think at two nil up we switched off a second and Simon (Baldwin) kept us in the game with as good a save as I've seen for a while - a very, very good save. He's done very well and I'm pleased for him, I'm pleased for the defence and I'm pleased for the team because it is a team effort.
"We defended from the front and it's worked for us tonight. We got a clean sheet and scored four goals and hopefully we can go on and build on that.
"That was Jamie Hood's last game so it's in our thoughts that Dan Douglas will come back in as a straight replacement. I've had a chat with Dan and explained the reasons why we left him out of the team. By Dan Douglas's standards his last two performances the Kidsgrove game and the half hour he was on the pitch the other game and that wasn't Dan Douglas.
"I've watched the Kidsgrove game two or three times. The first half in particular where he was very off it, not to just single Dan out but to look at general things. We managed to get a DVD and took advantage of looking at it again and we'll give Dan a copy and he'll see what we're on about.
"To be fair Dan's a honest lad and he's accepted it and the challenge is can he go in on Saturday and pick up where Jamie Hood's left off. The worry is that Miles Chamberlain has a bit of a groin problem so we'll rest him from training and hope he'll be fit because I thought him and Nathan Morris did very well today.
"For the moment Simon Baldwin will keep the number one shirt for the moment. He knows the situation that we are speaking with another club with regards to bringing a another keeper in but if he keeps putting in performances like that it may negate that need so that's something we are going to look at closely over the next few days. In the three games so far he's done very well for us and we're pleased with that so we'll take it game by game."
