Halesowen Town vs Gresley Rovers
Sometimes teams have so much going for them that they almost inevitably tumble.
Like when England played New Zealand at Twickenham recently. A rugby union pundit said beforehand: "The All Blacks are fit, organised, have no injury problems and are on a tremendous winning run. England have injury problems, they're lacking confidence and they're disorganised. So it must be England to win."
It wasn't quite like that at the Grove last night, yet in the aftermath of Gresley's best result of the season – indeed, their best result EVER on paper – there was a certain air of "it had to happen" about the occasion.
Twice left moaning "we were robbed" after Halesowen games this term, last night Rovers made certain of satisfaction at the third helping with a tremendous performance that blended steely determination with straightforward and effective attacking football that rocked Town on their heels from the early stages.
Boss Steve Dolby had declared beforehand that his team would be setting out to take the game to their hosts and Rovers proved as good as their manager's word.
Halesowen began like a team brimming with confidence after 12 consecutive home wins with Stuart Evans twice foiling danger man Henry Wright with well-timed tackles early on.
But Gresley matched their hosts attack for attack and after Wright had missed his kick in front of goal after Bob Aston had pawed away Ian Brown's cross on 15 minutes Martin Devaney laid off Colin Loss's through ball for Tony Marsden to hammer a shot just wide.
Malcolm Hazlewood fired narrowly over after linking with Wright and Brown put a shot just past a post from 20 yards and as the home crowd bayed for better finishing it came – at the opposite end.
There seemed no danger as Town skipper Chris Jones rolled a backpass to his keeper but, with Chris Moore applying pressure, Tony Rowe's kick landed straight at the feet of Devaney who held off Phil Wood's challenge before firing clinically home from 18 yards.
Town responded furiously with Richard Massey earning a booking for a late challenge on the grounded Moore, but Rovers looked good for an interval lead until the fifth minute of injury time.
Andy Bradley's cross from the right was met by the clearing head of Mark Blount but as the ball came down on the edge of the penalty area midfielder John Snape met it on the volley and the ball flew unstoppably past Aston.
Within seconds, though, Rovers were celebrating what they thought was their second goal after Mark Hurst reached the right byeline and pulled back for Loss to fire in a low shot, only for referee Haslewood to decide that Devaney had been interfering with play as he strayed offside on the left of the box.
The disappointment merely acted as a spur for Rovers, though, and the second half began as the first had ended with Moore seeing a shot from Hurst's lay off deflected over.
Aston saved well as Brown tried to weave his way through, Devaney headed Marsden's cross just off target and Blount denied Massey with an excellent tackle as the burly midfielder moved threatening onto Hazlewood's excellent through ball.
With 15 minutes to go, though, Rowe got a fist to Graeme Rigg's free kick from near the right corner but as the ball reached the edge of a crowded penalty area Hurst reacted with a first time volley to send it skidding back into the net.
If Town were shocked by that within two minutes they were positively traumatised. Snape, not by any means for the first time, snuffed out another attack with an illegal tackle 25 yards out and when Rowe failed to hold Rigg's crisply driven free kick the ball fell perfectly for the lurking Blount to fire into the roof of the net.
Town staged the predictable late bombardment to try and preserve their unbeaten record and within three minutes Paul Joinson, previously anonymous, gave them hope, firing home after Aston could only parry Hazlewood's shot following a corner.
And when the same pair linked again Hazlewood looked odds on to break Rovers hearts as he broke clear into the box but Aston raced from his line like a greyhound from a trap to secure victory with a magnificent, smothering save.
Halesowen Town (1) 2
Gresley Rovers (1) 3
Scorers: Devaney 36, Hurst 75, Blount 77 (Gresley Rovers); Snape 45, Joinson 80 (Halesowen Town)
Halesowen Town: Rowe, Snape, Jones, Bowen, Wood, Hazlewood, Massey, Brown, Joinson, Bradley, Wright. Subs: ?
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Blount, Evans, Rigg, Stanborough, Loss, Marsden, Wardle (Acklam), Hurst, Devaney, Moore. Subs:?
Referee: Mr Haslewood.
