Alfreton Town vs Gresley Rovers
Cup agony – Rex Page – Burton Mail
An injury-time goal sabotaged a valiant backs-to-the-wall performance by Gresley Rovers in the first leg of their Derbyshire Senior Cup final at the Town Ground last night.
Gresley seemed on the brink of achieving their objective of taking a blank scoresheet back to the Moat Ground when disaster struck.
Two minutes of time added on for stoppages had already ticked away when a rare defensive error was ruthlessly punished to give Northern Premier League Alfreton Town a precious lead.
John Bottomley’s panicky clearance on the right flank rebounded off the body of substitute Mark Bromley and Colin Thacker seized the chance to drive in a low centre which Mark Jones brilliantly brought under control before beating Bob Aston from eight yards.
It was a tragic blow for Rovers, whose ultra-defensive formation continually frustrated a lively and mobile Alfreton attack. Ray Skeemer was a tower of strength and there were good performances, too, from skipper Steve Dolby and classy full back Martin Dick.
There was even a suspicion that, tactically, Gresley may have showed their hosts too much respect. Whenever Rovers managed to get players forward in support of the front-runners Dave Morrison and Martin Devaney they stretched the home defence but, regrettably, not often enough.
As cup finals go, it was a scruffy contest. The pitch, shared by the local Rugby League side, was riddled with bumps and hollows: Ripley official John Barlow gave an enlightening demonstration of the eccentricities of refereeing and a pathetically small crowd – at least half the 278 paying spectators came from Gresley – meant there was little or no atmosphere.
Against that sort of backdrop it was always going to be a battle of wills rather than one decided by flair and invention.
Scoring chances, not surprisingly, were in short supply. Gresley’s best of the first half came with only nine minutes gone when Morrison, never able to bring the ball under control on the uneven surface, screwed a 20-yard shot wide after Devaney had delivered a telling through ball.
Alfreton caused only two moments of worry for a composed Gresley defence. The first after 18 minutes, ended with Dick making a goalline clearance after Jones’s near post header had found John Shirt and Skeemer also made a vital interception when Graham Millington’s shot squirted out of the hands of Aston.
Rovers’ best spell came around the hour mark. Neil Lovell escaped attention on the left to drive a low shot against the legs of Mark Thornley and Alfreton had another let off when the midfielder swung in the subsequent corner.
Thornley, utterly beaten by the flight, flapped indecisively and Dolby was desperately unlucky when his close range shot came back off a post.
And as Gresley built on a sudden flurry of pressure, Thornley was almost beaten when Dick unleashed a rising 25-yard shot.
Rovers went not nearly so close to goal again. Nor for that matter did Alfreton until Bottomley’s fatal error with Gresley’s mission all-but completed.
Alfreton Town (0) 1
Gresley Rovers (0) 0
Scorer: Jones 92.
Alfreton Town: Thornley, Markham, Jackson, Thacker, Shirt, Benjamin, Travis, Denby, Jones, Millington, Burrows. Subs: Collier, Needham.
Gresley Rovers: Aston, Dick, Williams (Bromley 68), Bottomley, Dolby, Page, Skeemer, Laws, Morrison, Devaney, Lovell. Sub: K Hill.
Rovers man-of-the-match: Ray Skeemer.
Referee: J Barlow (Ripley).
Attendance: 278
