Lye Town vs Gresley Rovers
Battered but unbeaten – Andy Parker – Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers extended an unbeaten run stretching back deep into last season at Lye last night – but at considerable cost to Frank Northwood’s already stretched squad.
With injury, suspension and unavailability having made their mark on the Moatmen to the extent that four key players missed the trip to the Black Country.
Rovers suffered a further major blow when former Burton Albion kingpin Steve Dolby limped out of the action at half time with a painful ankle wound.
That loss gave greater credit to a draw that kept alive Rovers’ early challenge for a top spot in the Banks’s League.
For even with Nigel Barrows standing in as a makeshift centre half, Gresley were able to shut out a speedy Lye side who weren’t averse to trying to kick their way to victory.
Reg Priest, Mark Bromley and keeper Karl Austin all needed treatment and Northwood will have an anxious count of bumps and bruises to make before tomorrow’s trip to Malvern.
But he can rest assured that players who might normally be regarded as second choice will not let him down.
Brought in to bolster the ranks Ricky Hooman redeemed himself for a poor recent performance by playing soundly along the right. John Bottomley returned to give bite in midfield while Kev Banton was lively up front.
Nonetheless it was a game of very few clear-cut openings. Brian Beresford as always, looked the man most likely to give Rovers a win, three times escaping in the box to scoop half time chances over the bar.
And for all their enthusiasm and running, Lye never seriously tested Karl Austin. Indeed, frustration showed through when striker John Holdcroft wickedly hacked at the Gresley keeper in the dying minutes and was rightly booked.
Lye Town (0) 0
Gresley Rovers (0) 0
Lye Town: Hughes, Homer, Cooper, Jackson (Cant 54), Paskin, Hayes, Hadley, Lycett, Bastable, Holcroft, Walker.
Gresley Rovers: Austin, Hooman, Bromley, West, Dolby (Barrows 45), Laws, Stringer, Bottomley, Priest, Beresford, Banton.
Referee: I Barnsley.
Attendance: 120
