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Gresley Rovers defender Stuart Evans chose a golden moment to score his first goal for the club on Saturday when he earned his side a place in the last 32 of this season’s FA Vase competition.
Evans converted a Richard Denby free kick in extra time to grab victory for Rovers after Brian Beresford had kept the Moatmen in the tie with an equaliser three minutes from the end of normal time.And the biggest smile in Rovers’ post-match celebrations belonged to the Wolverhampton-based youngster who confessed: “My first goal for Gresley couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Explained Evans: “Richard put a good ball in, it came over everyone and I was in the right place at the right time. I really enjoyed it.
“Getting stuck on the motorway and arriving late wasn’t the best preparation for the game and the pitch was awful, but we stuck at it and deserved our win.
“Everyone in the team is full of confidence at the moment – we all want the ball and we all want to play. All we’re hoping for is a home draw and we’ll be confident of making progress.”
Rovers boss Frank Northwood was happy enough with his team’s victory but said afterwards: “The game should never really have been played. The pitch was frozen and very treacherous and the game was always going to be a farce.
“It acted as a leveller but we showed a lot of character to come back after going behind so late in the game.”
Northwood also paid tribute to Rovers’ travelling army of fans who turned out in their hundreds despite freezing fog making road conditions perilous.
“The fans were super – the turnout was great and they all played their part in our win,” he said.
