Match Report  |  Gresley Rovers vs Ashby Ivanhoe

On a foggy damp afternoon Gresley Rovers entertained near neighbours Ashby Ivanhoe in front of a bumper crowd of 659.

The first half was a scrappy affair with scoring opportunities few and far between as both sides struggled to come to terms with the conditions not helped by the fog lifting and then returning throughout the game.

It was the home side which took the lead after 13 minutes when Jamie Sleigh coolly lobbed the visiting keeper, Bradley Catlow. Ivanhoe hit back and went close to leveling with Sam Grouse firing wide of the far post.

On 25 minutes Rovers were forced into their first change when the unfortunate Jack Bostock suffered what looked like a serious knee injury to be replaced by Nathan Banton. Minutes later Ivanhoe did level from a very soft penalty which was converted by Grouse.
The rest of the first half continued to be a scrappy contest and the game ended a one apiece.

Rovers made another change for the start of the second half with Jenson Cooper replacing Ethan Goodfellow and the home side began to put pressure on the Ivanhoe defence with Sleigh going close to adding his second goal but fired just wide of the right post.

The Rovers captain went even closer on 61 minutes when he collected a poor clearance and raced forward but Catlow stuck out a leg to block Sleigh’s shot and deflect the ball for a corner.

Ivanhoe made changes and they tested Rovers’ keeper Louie Turner who dealt with the low shot from distance easily.

As time began to run out both sides had chances to grab all three points, and it was the visitors who had the first chance. A quick break saw Chris Acott fly down the right and firing in a cross which Turner did well to save.

With 5 minutes gone of added on time Massiah McDonald was inches from giving his team the spoils but his flicked header, from a cross from the right, flew just the wrong side of the the far post with Catlow beaten.

In the end, a draw was possibly the right result.