Oldbury United vs Gresley Rovers
Great, Gresley – Burton Mail
Nigel Duggins began his quest for a first team future at the Moat Ground by helping Gresley Rovers plant one foot firmly in the Banks’s League Cup Final.
Duggins, thrust into the spotlight by a string of potentially disastrous Saturday morning withdrawals, exchanged a mundane reserve team fixture against Hinton for a high-pressure semi-final at Oldbury.
But the South Derbyshire midfielder gobbled up his chance for glory with the hunger of a man determined to make a name for himself on a bigger stage.
His ice-cool 43rd minute finish after a superb first-half display turned the game on its head and Brian Beresford’s brilliantly taken winner straight after the re-start means Rovers go into the home leg with a precious advantage.
Saturday’s last-minute promotion was Duggins’ first call to senior duty since re-joining the Moat Men from Rosilston Albion late last year.
“I made up my name I wanted to have a go at playing at a higher level,” he said afterwards. “I’ve had to play in the reserves and wait my chance but now I’m determined to stay in the first team.”
Duggins, son of the most famous striker ever to pull on a Rovers shirt, brought a glint to the eye of his legendary father Gordon with that crucial goal.
Martin Devaney, the architect of so much that was good in this Rovers display, made the opening with a probing crossfield run and a defence splitting diagonal pass and Duggins advanced into the area before striking an angled drive into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
He explained: “I saw the gap and went into it and Martin played a superb ball into my path. After that I just hit it and it flew in.”
Oldbury had barely recovered from that body blow when Duggins and Devaney combined again to set Beresford galloping away with that razor edge that’s become his trademark he clinically dispatched the ball into a corner of the net.
The home side, seeing the tie slipping out of their grasp, were stung into retaliation but with Gresley’s defensive unit operating superbly they never looked seriously threatening.
Although Duggins slightly soured his day with a late booking nothing could reduce the after match satisfaction of manager Frank Northwood.
“I thought we were magnificent. I saw the trouble Oldbury had against Burton Albion with two players wide in midfield so I pulled Gary Stevens and Clive Arthur back a little,” he said.
“I felt we battled superbly and everyone contributed to a great team performance.”
For all their pressure and possession Oldbury could only look back on their 15th minute opener created by Trace Norton’s well-weighted pass over a square Gresley defence and finished by Dave Morrison’s rasping half-volley.
Oldbury United (1) 1
Gresley Rovers (1) 2
Scorers: Morrison 15 (Oldbury United): Duggins 43, Beresford 46 (Gresley Rovers).
Oldbury United: Johnson, Walton, Humphries, Nicklin, Vowles, Astley, Secker, Norton, Morrison, Wilson, Giles. Sub: Banks.
Gresley Rovers: Austin, Bottomley, Williams, Pearsall, Dolby, Bromley, Arthur, Duggins, Stevens, Beresford, Devaney. Sub: M Hall.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Martin Devaney.
Referee: J F Pardoe (Kidderminster).
Attendance: 164
