Gresley Rovers vs Wolverhampton United
Get lost! – Richard Whitehead – Burton Mail
Hard-to-please Gresley fans have come under fire from Moat Ground chief Frank Northwood.
Northwood watched his side competently dispose of Wolverhampton United to maintain their 100 per cent league record – then attacked the supporters who wanted more goals.
“Some of our fans are never satisfied these days,” he fumed. “When I first came here they were happy to watch Rovers lose by two or three goals every week – now they grumble if they don’t thrash everybody. You can’t score five and six goals every week – football just isn’t like that,” he added.
Northwood’s angry outburst came after Rovers had coasted to victory over a young Wolverhampton side rather than delivering the slaughter that at one stage looked likely.
“I enjoy winning by five or six goals but I’m more than happy with 1-0,” he said.
But while Northwood’s attack is understandable he will surely be privately concerned about the 29 minute second half spell when Rovers threatened to ruin all their dominance and let a vastly inferior United team back into the game.
Neil Lovell appeared to have given them the ideal platform for a second half stroll in the sunshine with two well taken first half goals.
But when a rusty looking Steve French capped an uncomfortable debut by lobbing a back pass over Karl Austin’s head for Tony Ward to score Rovers got an attack of the jitters.
To be fair they never really looked like surrendering the lead but it was all far more nervy than it should have been until Paul Acklam guided home John Bottomley’s cross after a lovely pass from Martin Dick had split the visitor’s defence.
That spell apart Rovers football was as cultured and enterprising as the Moat Ground regulars have come to expect in the Northwood era and in the first half it looked a matter of how many they would score.
Lovell notched the first by coolly steering home Martin Devaney’s cross in the ninth minute than added a second right on half time by expertly heading home Acklam’s precise cross.
Gresley Rovers (2) 3
Wolverhampton United (0) 1
Scorers: Lovell 9, 44, Acklam 81(Gresley Rovers): Ward 52 (Wolverhampton United).
Gresley Rovers: Austin, Dick, Bromley, Bottomley, Dolby, French,, Jackson, Laws, Acklam, Devaney, Lovell. Sub: Payne.
Wolverhampton United: Maycock, Mansell, Fletcher, Walker (Weston 45), Clifford, Glencourse, Voice, Davies, Hall, Leek, Ward.
Gresley man-of-the-match: Martin Dick.
Referee: P Cox (Coventry).
Attendance: 262
