Mickleover Sports vs Gresley Rovers
Mickleover Sports 3 - 2 Gresley Rovers
Gresley Rovers included Tom Betteridge and Paul Edwards and it was this combination that produced Rovers' early lead.
On 12 minutes Betteridge made a good run pushing the ball forward for Edwards to run on to and he made no mistake beating Sports keeper David Kirkland.
Four minutes later Rovers doubled their advantage when a good exchange of passes between Edwards and Richard Hanslow led to Edwards seeing his shot fly into the net.
Sports were back into the game on 22 minutes when a slip by James Carlisle allowed Scott McKenzie to run through the middle and as Rovers' keeper Tom Allan rushed out to narrow the angle he coolly chipped the ball over Allan and into the net.
Carlisle redeemed himself somewhat by denying Kieran O'Connell with a superbly timed tackle in the box at the expense of just a corner.
Rovers were forced to make two changes at the halftime break due to injuries to both Edwards and the skipper Tom Astle. It was later discovered that Edwards had suffered a fractured foot that will keep him out of action for at least six weeks.
The enforced change seemed to disrupt the rhythm of the team and Sports were level just two minutes after the restart. Sports were awarded a corner and O'Connell was on hand to ram the ball home.
On 54 minutes Sports made a change bringing on Ashley Wright for Ian McAndrew and pressed for a winner.
Rovers made their final change on 82 minutes bringing on Dave Fleary in place of Matt Brown as they too looked to get all three points.
However, with just minutes to go Rovers conceded a needless corner. From the resulting flag kick Ryan Brown was allowed a free header inside the box and he made no mistake beating Allan for the winner.
Scorers: McKenzie 22, O'Connell 47, R Brown 87 (Sports); Edwards 12, 16 (Rovers)
Mickelover Sports: David Kirkland, Ryan Lee, Joe Whittle, Ian McAndrew (Ashley Wright 54), Sam Foster, Jonathan Hamilton (c), Chris Morris, Adam Cousins, Scott McKenzie, Kieran O'Connell, Ryan Brown
Sub not used: David McKenzie
Gresley Rovers: Tom Allan, Adam Thorley, Adam Barradell, Tom Astle (c) (Chris Nicolls 45), James Carlisle, Matt Brown (Dave Fleary 82), Craig Tucker, Jermain Hollis, Paul Edwards (Chris Spencer 45), Richard Hanslow, Tom Betteridge
