Gresley Rovers vs Atherstone United
Rovers sting with more venom than Adders – Rex Page – Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers taught their high-flying rivals a painful lesson where it hurts most at the Moat Ground yesterday – in and around both penalty areas.
Atherstone left for home still wondering how they managed to lose a game they dominated for long periods.
Yet, the answer was simple enough. They could neither match the durability of a superb Gresley defence, nor the accuracy of their finishing.
For the second time in three days, Gresley’s quagmire pitch had to host a game crucially important to the running order at the top of the West Midlands League Premier Division.
Curiously, though, the appalling conditions added spice to a full-blooded battle played by both teams as though the result was a matter of life and death.
Gresley had to suffer the worst of the elements in the first half when a spiteful cocktail of rain, snow and sleet drove into their faces.
It was little wonder that Atherstone were able to charge at them down the slope like a cavalry in full cry.
Gresley had to lean heavily on their superbly drilled defence and the brilliance of goalkeeper Karl Austin as the Adders mercilessly poured forward in the first 30 minutes.
Austin produced two marvellous saves to grasp powerful shots from Bobby Parker and then used the extremities of his body to keep out efforts from Alan Brotherton and Rob Farmer in a furious goalmouth scramble.
And there was more than a suspicion of hand ball when Mark Bromley slithered across his line to make a desperate clearance after Paul Montgomery’s pass had carved out an opening for Brotherton.
There seemed no escape for Gresley, yet totally against the run of play they seized the lead in the 43rd minute.
Paul Haywood lost his footing as he attempted to make a straight-forward interception of Robert Philpott’s through ball and Brian Beresford capitalised on the chance to beat Lee Spencer with a low right foot shot.
It had been an enthralling struggle in the mud, yet the first half proved to be an appetiser for the main course.
Beresford set the standard with a curling right foot shot only 37 seconds after the restart and from that moment onwards chances came at either end in an avalanche of excitement.
Gresley went close to stretching their lead three times in a blistering two minute spell of pressure.
Kevin Banton’s pace took him clear of Alan Bennett, but Spencer reacted superbly when Clive Arthur latched on to the winger’s inviting cross.
Spencer was instantly forced to push a Beresford shot round a post and from Banton’s corner Rovers leading goal scorer thudded a header against the bar.
Gresley had a similar escape when Parker headed against the bar and the former Coventry City man was further denied by another spectacular save by Austin.
The goal the Adders deserved finally came in the 72nd minute. Brotherton’s shot was parried by Austin but he managed to clip the ball into the area for Farmer to level the scores with a diving header.
But Gresley were far from finished and six minutes later they were back in the driving seat.
Atherstone’s square looking defence was penetrated by Dave King’s pass and Beresford broke from what looked an offside position, wrestling the ball past a despairing Spencer on the edge of the area and stroked into an unguarded net.
Brotherton issued a sharp reminder of the danger he posed by firing against the base of Austin’s post, but Gresley calmed the nerves of fans eight minutes from the end.
Banton again used his pace to embarrass Bennett and when his dangerous cross was only partially cleared, Philpott calmly placed a 15-yards shot beyond Spencer and in off the far post.
It was a fitting climax to a magnificent game.
Gresley Rovers (1) 3
Atherstone United (0) 1
Scorers: Beresford 43, 78, Philpott 82 (Gresley Rovers): Farmer 72 (Atherstone United).
Gresley Rovers: Austin, Earley, Bromley, West, Dolby, King, Arthur, Laws, Philpott, Beresford, Banton. Sub: Butler.
Referee: M Whitehouse (West Bromwich).
Attendance: 410
