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Gresley aiming to overcome draw jinx
Story courtesy of Burton Mail
Will Gresley Rovers’ dreaded draw syndrome strike down the Moatmen’s title aspirations yet again?
That was the question on Rovers’ fans lips after Tuesday’s turgid 1-1 draw at Paget Rangers.A draw at Paget – once title front-runners but now ranked as outsiders – might seem a reasonable result on paper.
But with other title chasers having taken a maximum return from the Sutton Coldfield club, a draw was just not good enough.
Though Gresley still cling to their precarious perch atop the Banks’s Premier Division, Rushall and Blakenall, who have been dogging Rovers like vultures trailing a dying man across a desert all season, are now poised for a late rush.
Rushall, with a game in hand, are two points behind, Blakenall, with FIVE games in hand are just eight points behind, although Rovers boss Frank Northwood would be first to point out that it’s all right having games in hand, but you’ve still got to win them – something Don Revie would no doubt concur with after his experiences with the great Leeds United side of the 70’s.
Clearly, Blakenall’s visit to the Moat Ground will be of crucial importance and supporters can only hope that Gresley fare better in this game than they have in the other crunch games this season – they drew 0-0 with Rushall and lost 3-1 to Paget.
But Gresley have lost some of their momentum since striker Tracey Norton’s unfortunate injury, causing Northwood to temporarily abandon his title-winning ploy of playing three big men up front in a 4-3-3 formation.
Such was the success of this policy earlier in the term that Northwood has brought in striker Andy Maddocks on loan from Atherstone. But Maddocks did little to suggest on Tuesday that he is the vital missing piece from the jigsaw.
And with Northwood notoriously short of patience with players who need time to play themselves into a side, it could be that Maddocks will soon be returning whence he came.
