Unbeaten record ruined by Rovers (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Unbeaten record ruined by Rovers

Gresley Rovers 2, Evesham United 0

SHORN of the services of skipper Lee Knight and the experienced Sean Flynn and, add to that the "poisoned chalice" that is the Manager of the Month award, then the writing was on the wall before 3pm last Saturday.

And so it turned out as a poor Robins' display saw them surrender their seven-match undefeated run and lose for the first time this year.

Flynn's replacement Steve Shaw wasted United's only real clear-cut chance of the game when he hit the legs of Gresley goalkeeper Brad Clarke after racing clear midway through the first half.

It proved a costly miss when nine minutes before the interval Carl Slater wasn't quite so wasteful as he fired a 20-yarder past Tim Clarke.

Steven Hands replaced the suspended Knight and a one-goal interval deficit would have been looked upon as favourable when Dave Busst's men turned round with the slope and stiff breeze in their favour.

However, Flynn's absence meant little was produced from midfield and the prolific Craig Pountney and Lee Ross were starved of service.

At the opposite end, only two excellent stops from Tim Clarke to deny Steve Lenagh kept the Robins in the match and a double change to away personnel on 61 minutes had the opposite effect.

Just 60 seconds after Jermaine Clarke and Kris Sage had replaced Shaw and Craig Nicholls, Lea Doughty's swerving drive left Clarke helpless and Evesham with a hopeless task if they wished to extend their impressive form.

An additional man up front failed to ruffle Rovers who maintained their recent improvement in comfort against a side that must now look to bounce back quickly ahead of a sequence of five home games out of the next seven.