Goals from Anthony Malbon, Jordan Johnson and Nick Wellecomme made it a successful afternoon at The Novus Stadium for the home side.

By Matthew Henderson

Kidsgrove Athletic fought from a goal down to win 3-1 and pick up a third successive win at home to Gresley on Saturday.

Gresley’s Alex Steadman put his team in front from close range in a pulsating first 45 minutes, but second-half goals from Anthony Malbon, Jordan Johnson and Nick Wellecomme saved the day for Peter Ward’s side.

This latest victory for Grove proved to be another step in the right direction following a mixed start to the 2015/16 season, including three defeats from nine games so far.

Following last weekend’s 6-2 thrashing of Loughborough Dynamo, there were signs in the early stages of this encounter that the home side were brimming with confidence; a bright start culminated in Jack Sherratt hitting the woodwork inside 10 minutes before Wellecomme’s strike from distance was palmed away by Gresley goalkeeper Liam Roberts.

Despite a positive opening period for Kidsgrove, it was Gresley who opened the scoring through Steadman, who took advantage of Martin Smyth’s low ball to score in emphatic fashion and put his team in control at the break.

The second half was less than five minutes old though when Grove’s encouraging build-up play finally translated into a goal; Johnson got in behind his man and, despite poking his shot just wide, won his team a penalty after being taken down by Roberts inside the area.

In the wake of a nasty collision between the two players Malbon stepped up to equalise for the hosts, planting his shot high into the net and sending Roberts the wrong way.

Visibly buoyed by the turnaround, Kidsgrove looked to seize the initiative and their reward was a quick second goal in the form of Johnson’s lofted finish following another smart breakway by the number 10.

With Grove now the dominant side, there was little that their opponents could do to regain a foothold in the match; a situation that was intensified shortly after the hour mark when Wellecomme found acres of space inside the penalty area, and scored an acrobatic volley that gave Roberts no chance.

The only piece of bad news in the final 20 minutes for Kidsgrove was Lewis Bergin’s dismissal for a reckless sliding tackle on Gresley defender Lucas Harrison as tempers flared late on.

Despite this the impact on the hosts’ performance was minimal as they saw out the remainder of the match to pick up another vital three points, and will go into Wednesday’s clash with Tividale looking to do it all over again.