Gresley Rovers vs Rushall Olympic
Stuart's agony – Rex Page – Burton Mail
The rehabilitation of Gresley Rovers’ defender Stuart Watkiss is proving almost as painful an experience as the ankle injury which put him out of action for two months.
In midweek Watkiss punctuated his come back game with a series of errors that went unpunished by a benevolent Buxton attack in the second round of the Derbyshire Senior Cup.
But at the Moat Ground on Saturday Watkiss was the central figure in two moments that stripped Gresley of a top six place in the Banks’s West Midland League for the first time this season.
Rovers’ attempt to revive their fortunes had begun with a promising flurry of pressure, but in the 11th minute they found themselves trailing to a highly controversial penalty.
Watkiss, challenging for a high ball with Mark Bowater, was adjudged to have pushed his opposite number and Steve Cant gratefully accepted the opportunity to give Rushall the lead from the penalty spot.
I seemed a harsh decision and was still provoking groans of disbelief from Gresley’s supporters by the time the half time whistle had arrived.
Much later in the game, a more obvious blunder by Watkiss plunged Rovers into even deeper trouble. He dithered on the ball in the centre circle long enough to allow Cant to dispossess him and although Tommy Thompson’s tackle prevented Rushall from making instant profit, Watkiss did not escape unpunished.
The corner that followed found the head of Mick Folland and a flat-footed defence could do nothing to stop Ken Kelly from volleying in at the far post.
Just six minutes remained and Rovers were firmly on their way to only their second home defeat of the season.
That ought to have been the case, however, for between those two goals Gresley were the dominant force and decisively the better side.
They produced some of their slickest football for weeks, but were let down either by careless delivery of the final pass or by the brand of wayward finishing which has begun to plague them.
Gresley’s current mood was never better demonstrated than in their 20 minutes when they had Rushall on the ropes but failed to drive home their superiority.
The most obvious chance fell to Reg Priest, who fired against the legs of the goalkeeper Nigel Watson after Mark Bromley’s clearance had caught Rushall undermanned in defence.
Priest contrived to miss another clear chance and had a header brilliantly turned over the bar by Watson.
Throw in a Steve Dolby shot that was hacked off the line and a near own goal by David Grundy and the measure of Gresley’s frustration is easily explained.
When Priest finally made the breakthrough, steering Thompson’s clever pass wide of Watson in to the corner of the net, there were just seconds remaining.
Gresley Rovers (0) 1
Rushall Olympic (1) 2
Scorers: Priest 89 (Gresley Rovers): Cant 11 pen, Kelly 84 (Rushall Olympics).
Gresley Rovers: Griffiths, Attley, Bromley, Watkiss, Dolby, Thompson, Arthur, Laws, Butler (Priest 60), Beresford, Earley.
Rushall Olympics: Watkiss, Slater, Dawson, Grundy, Bowater, Youll, Horne, Harper, Folland, Cant, Kelly. Sub: Morris.
Referee: M J Fearn (Kingswinford).
Attendance: 175
