Match Report  |  Gresley Rovers vs Belper United

It was a despondent James Jepson who spoke to the Rovers’ social media after his side’s defeat at the Moat Ground saying they did not deserve anything and the best person today was vice chairman Stuart Bonser, who looks after the pitch, managing to get the game on.

On a bitterly cold afternoon and on a soft surface both sides struggled to find any sort of fluency in their game. It was the visitors who had the first shot but it was an easy one for home keeper Louie Turner to deal with.

Just after the half hour mark things got a little tetchy with a player from both sides receiving the first yellow cards of the game but minutes later Belper were in front. Jack Thatcher collected the ball on the right before cutting in and curling a sweet shot past Turner and into the far corner of the net.

The best chance of the first half from Rovers came from Jamie Sleigh who fired his shot just over the bar.

Rovers made a change for the start of the second half with Liam Kavanagh replacing Jenson Cooper and within 5 minutes Rovers were level. A free kick by Kavanagh from the right found the head of Alby Lansdowne who steered it past Joe Fryatt and into the net.

Unfortunately, they were only level for 4 minutes. Rovers failed to clear the ball on the left of their defence and an almost mirror image of their first goal, this time it was Sam Birks who curled the ball into the far corner of Turner’s goal.

United went close to extending their lead but were denied by a great save from Turner diving to his left and from the resultant corner they put a header just over the bar.
Rovers went close on 65 minutes. A corner from the right by Banton was headed towards goal but Fryatt managed to scoop the ball off the line at the base of the far post.

The home side were trying hard but were being repelled by a well disciplined Belper defence while at the other end of the pitch Turner came to their rescue making another fine save.
Rovers went agonisingly close to grabbing a share of the points with two good chances in time added on. The first was from a cross by Lansdowne which Massiah McDonald met at the far post but he somehow managed to head the ball over the gaping goal.

And then, Jamie Sleigh was caught offside by the finest of margins twice with the first one, which he put in the net, being the most debatable looking just onside as he raced forward onto a through ball but those sorts of decisions seem to be frequent when you are in the position Rovers are at the moment.