Gresley Rovers vs Buxton
Six appeal – Andy Parker – Burton Mail
In the words of Rovers boss Frank Northwood: “It had to happen sooner or later.”
Gresley, who had tormented their fans with a string of poor performances at the Moat Ground over a period of months, finally found the sort of form that Northwood had been praying for.
On Saturday, Buxton were sent crashing from the lofty heights of the Northern Premier League deep into the Moat mud.
Make no mistake, Gresley emphatically deserved to exceed the expectations even of hard-to-please Northwood who had said on the eve of the game: “I hope the fans will be patient with us – we’re not going to get six against a side like Buxton.”
Yet that is exactly what the magnificent Moatmen did, plundering a fantastic five in a frantic first half full of thrills and, more importantly, fluid flowing football.
Little Gary Stevens gave them a dream start with a stooping header from Keith Hill’s instantly struck right wing cross, new boy Dave Morrison weighed in with a brace to dispel any doubts about his goalscoring potential and. After Stevens’ second and a firmly-hit penalty from Steve Dolby, Joe Jackson completed Gresley’s route with an audacious chip just six minutes into the second half.
It was a performance that left Northwood barely able to control his emotions. The superlatives tripped from his tongue afterwards as he purred: “I’m absolutely over the moon. The lads were just fantastic – it was a brilliant performance.”
Yet there was no hint of what was to come when Buxton’s Steve Murtugh finished off an ominously crisp move to send a glancing header past Bob Aston for the North Derbyshire side’s leveller on 11 minutes.
Gresley’s super start seemed set to stutter to an end as the cup favourites moved into gear to force a spell of pressure that promised more than a mere equaliser.
What followed was a demolition act that was stunning as it was delightful to behold. Said Northwood: “I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing from their defence – they were leaving two on two.”
The two, in Gresley’s case, were Morrison and the mighty Martin Devaney, whose determination and physical presence continually unhinged Buxton’s ramshackle rearguard.
With Joe Jackson supplying a generous magazine of bullets with a series of super knocks from midfield, Devaney, Morrison and supporting cast tore into the visitors.
And when Keith Hill drove in a hard, waist-high cross from the left on 23 minutes Morrison received fitting reward for his impressive control when his six-yard shot ballooned the Buxton net.
As if to prove that this was Gresley’s day a dreadful gaffe by keeper Glen Blockley allowed Morrison a second 12 minutes later. Just minutes after Buxton’s last line of defence had made a superb diving interception to take the former Oldbury’s striker’s cross off Devaney’s head he allowed a harmless-looking shot from 18 yards to bounce over his dive and in.
The crowd was fighting for breath by now but there was more to come. Mark Bromley’s cross came to Hill on the right and when Morrison’s header was only half stopped by Blockley Stevens joyously ran in the rebound.
Then the hapless keeper felled Devaney as he battled goalward and Dolby fired crisply home from 12 yards.
Still Gresley weren’t finished and when Stevens’ free kick was only half cleared Jackson capped his best performance at the Moat Ground in months by cleverly making space for a chipped shot that flew over the keeper’s head before dipping under the bar.
Inevitably, Gresley’s momentum died after this and Buxton contrived to dominate the majority of the remainder. But at least that gave the appreciative Moat crowd an opportunity to applaud some superb defensive skills from Dean Page and Martin Dick in particular and excellent goalkeeping by Aston.
Even he, though, was powerless to stop Tibor Szabo pulling one back from the penalty spot on 77 minutes after Dolby had held back Stuart Lowe. The goal came as no consolation for Buxton, however, and they left the Moat Ground soon after the final whistle, their tails firmly between their legs.
Gresley Rovers (5) 6
Buxton (1) 2
Scorers: Stevens 3, 37; Morrison 23,35; Dolby (pen) 43; Jackson 51 (Gresley Rovers). Murtugh 11; Szabo (pen) 77 (Buxton).
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick, Bromley (Williams 64), Bottomley, Dolby, Page, Jackson, Stevens, Morrison, Devaney, K Hill (Earley 71).
Buxton: Blockley, Bainbridge, Murtugh, Yates, Roberts (M Hill 76), Bennett, Szabo, Harris (Jones 57), Lowe, O’Connor, Rodwell.
Rovers man-of-the-match: Dean Page.
Referee: G Stones (Walton on Trent).
Attendance: 315
