Gravesend & N 2 Stevenage1

GRAVESEND & Northfleet are discovering there is no head like an old head in their hours of need at the wrong end of the Nationwide Conference.

Should the club avoid relegation after one season back in the competition, they will surely raise a glass or two to toast the man with no knee - former Gillingham favourite Adrian Pennock who has had 11 operations on a left knee once held together by nuts and bolts.

The knee, which recently forced his retirement from full-time football with Gillingham, is now held together by bone and no cartilage.

Fleet manager Andy Ford gambled when he signed Pennock two weeks ago on the understanding that the arrangement will last until the season’s end.

Throughout Saturday's game, Pennock coaxed and cajoled a team who had experienced only one win in their previous 15 games. Ford said: "He has brought a massive and calming influence to the side. His qualities of leadership are respected by the players, you could see that out there.”

Pennock commented: "Everyone knows I’ve got a big mouth so the manager has asked me to use it for the good of the team. I’m just delighted to be playing a game that I love, but the most important thing is that we won."

In a tense affair, the Fleet took an 18th-minute lead through Mark Bentley’s free-kick which cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and over the line.

They had to wait until the 85th minute for their second when a communication breakdown between defender Jason Goodliffe and keeper Mark Westhead ended with the centre-back putting through his own goal. Simon Wormull gave Stevenage hope with a spectacular 88th-minute volley.

Gravesend: Wilkerson, Giles, Pennock, Wilkins (Burton 55 mins), Lee, White, Owen, Bentley, Skinner, Stadhart, Hatch. Subs not used: Turner, Budge, Kwashi, Strouts.