Gresley Rovers vs Tipton Town
Tame Rovers topple the ten men – Burton Mail
Gresley were on the crest of a wave after their league cup semi-final victory two days earlier. Tipton turned up with ten men, most of who appeared not to know each other’s names.
A goal riot seemed on the cards, if only Rovers could play with the same attacking flair of two days earlier. They couldn’t.
With the injured Martin Devaney and Clive Arthur watching from the sidelines – possibly with some degree of satisfaction as their colleagues failed to compensate for their absence – Rovers stuttered through 90 dreadful minutes that made digging the garden, walking the dog or watching a new coat of paint dry seem more attractive alternatives.
It all started with Rovers laying siege to the visitor’s goal. New signing Hughie Atkinson played a prominent role as Gresley swept forward but the former Wolves man seemed determined to mark his debut with a goal and ‘keeper Keith Garrington had nothing more serious to deal with than a few long range efforts – other than on Guy Hall chance stopped at point blank range.
After ten minutes of that the game fell apart completely and it wasn’t until a minute before half time that Rob Philpott finally showed his attacking colleagues how by slipping the ball under Garrington after Hall’s quick free kick had been turned into his path by Beresford.
The second half could hardly have been worse but was not much better either, Brian Beresford obliging with two penalties after fouls on virtually anonymous debutant Dave Sutton and the marauding John Bottomley, who seemed determined to repeat his goal earlier in the season at Tipton, but, like the rest of his colleagues, just couldn’t quite manage to deliver on the night.
Gresley Rovers (1) 3
Tipton Town (0) 0
Scorers: Philpott 44, Beresford 60,85 both pens.
Gresley Rovers: Austin, Bottomley, Williams, Hall, Dolby, Sales, Philpott, Atkinson, Stevens, Beresford, Sutton. Sub: Duggins.
Tipton Town: Garrington, Day, Smith, Andrews, Cook, Burford, Burns, Bromley, Winspar, Whitehouse.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Steve Dolby.
Referee: E J Purkiss (Bedworth).
Attendance: 306
