Malvern Town vs Gresley Rovers
Gresley win uphill struggle – Burton Mail
Gresley Rovers emerged from the shadow of the Malvern Hills on Saturday with the narrowest of winning margins to keep alive their challenge for the Banks’s League title.
Their Worcestershire opponents left it until the last en minutes before launching their best attacks of the game, a point mentioned by Rovers’ manager, Frank Northwood after the game.
He said: “It was not one of our best games and we should have added a few more goals. Morrison and Devaney both had a number of chances to score. Every time we’ve played Malvern since I’ve been here we have had to battle but they’ve never beaten us,” he added.
Though Gresley’s front two should have wrapped the game up well before the end, praise should be given to Malvern keeper, Hingley who twice saved at full length to deny the hungry Rovers’ duo.
For much of the first half, the saga surrounding the absent Gary Stevens who arrived just 15 minutes before the start overshadowed anything happening on the pitch. Even Gresley’s goal, as welcome as it was, was something of a dour affair, the ball skidding off Dave Morrison’s head from Martin Dick’s flighted cross after 25 minutes.
Minutes earlier, the former Oldbury goal machine had powered a header wide of the goal after a fine cross from the exciting Joe Jackson.
With Aston virtually inactive in the Rovers’ goal, the acrobatics were provided by Hingley who saved Malvern on the half-hour.
Martin Devaney collected the ball on the edge of the area, turned his man and shot only to see the keeper pull off a splendid save.
Maybe the pre-match warm-up had taken a little too much out of the Moatmen early on but from the interval, they totally dominated play.
Devaney proved Malvern’s main tormentor, making the most of his partnership with the tall Morrison. Both had headers fly inches past the post and Hingley produced his second outstanding stop on the hour when his fingertip save pushed Devaney’s diving header around the post.
There were booking for Gresley’s Dick and Laws and Russell had his name taken for the home side as the match became littered with niggling fouls towards the end. In the end the final whistle came to the Moatmen’s rescue with the home side enjoying their best spell of the game.
Malvern Town (0) 0
Gresley Rovers (1) 1
Scorer: Morrison 23.
Malvern Town: Hingley, Russell ( Wright 80), Lowe, Aldlington, Burton, Kerby, Brain, Hick, Rawle, Moverley, Jones.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick, Bromley, Williams, Dolby, Laws, Jackson, Stevens (Arthur 73), Morrison, Devaney, Lovell.
Rovers man-of-the-match: Martin Devaney.
Referee: T J Boulton.
Attendance: 161
