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Rovers on the Vase beat
Story courtesy of Burton Mail
Little has gone wrong for Gresley Rovers since Steve Dolby took over as coach in the wake of the shock sacking of Phil Marandola.
But the Rolleston schoolteacher is modest enough to admit that Gresley’s glittering form probably has more to do with manager Frank Northwood’s recently successful sorties into the transfer market.“Frank’s last four signings have really finished the team off. Martin Haskins has tightened up the defence to the extent that we’ve conceded only three goals in nine games,” says Dolby.
“And the lads up front – Paul Acklam, Tracey Norton and Graham Jones – are all quality players who hold the ball up well for us.”
He expects those qualities to be needed in abundance tomorrow when Rovers begin their FA Vase campaign away to West Midlands Police in the second round.
He explains, “It’s going to be a difficult game for us. From what we can gather they are well-organised and quite physical and they’ve had some good results against teams from our league.
“They have, however, got a good playing surface and that should help us.”
The Banks’s League title remains Gresley’s priority but a successful Vase run is, says Dolby, a major aim.
“Our view is that will complement our challenge for the title. We’ve come into the competition at a relatively late stage and there are only another five rounds remaining. In that sense I don’t think it will interfere with our league programme, so we’re very keen to go as far as possible along the road to Wembley,” he adds.
