SLEAFORD TOWN 1-0 EASTWOOD CFC

Sleaford Town......1 (Butler 50')
Eastwood CFC .....0

Ten man Eastwood fail by a single goal...

The Gaffer made eight changes from final day defeat to Heanor in April. Goalkeeper Warren Squires, skipper Jacob Sturgess and Kyle Wrenn were the only three players to keep their place. In come new signings; McCourt, Johal, Devlin, Steadman and Wint for their competitive debuts

Both sides adopted an early cat and mouse attitude at the Longwater Stadium and chances were few and far between in the opening exchanges. The Greens were forced into long range efforts mainly due to a high Eastwood back line and, for their part, the Red Badgers were relying on the outside pace of Brontae Wint to try and open up the home defence.

Greens striker Ryan Rushen had an early chance but blazed over from a decent position.
minutes later Oliver McCourt was called upon to deny Joe Smith a goalscoring opportunity.

Midway through the half a Tyler Johal tame free kick went wide as both sides were making very little headway in the opponents last third.

The first real goalmouth action came after 35 as Warren Squires was called upon to save a decent Smith shot with his legs. The visitors could hardly muster a decent shot on target and Greens ‘keeper Liam Flitton was having one of his quieter days.

On the stroke of half time and, arguably, the turning point in the whole game. The speedy Wint was cynically bought down by Kyle Watkins in the centre circle which resulted in a frank exchange of views by both sets of players. Watkins was lucky to stay on the pitch for his indiscretion, but Eastwood skipper Jacob Sturgess was sent packing for his protestations. No surprise as the Eastwood number 4 had been booked just 13 minutes earlier.

It was always an uphill task for the visitors after that as Sleaford drove forward to add to their lead. Time and again the Eastwood back line held out doing a remarkable backs to the wall job.

After 50 minutes the go-ahead goal. A cross from Mitch Griffiths far out right evaded the visitors defence and Joe Butler was ideally placed to head against the bar. The ball bounced down and over the line before being bundled home to make sure.

The Red Badgers heads did not drop as they tried desperately to gain some kind of foothold in the game and they more than matched their hosts in both determination and guile.

The game wore on and had the Greens been more cynical in front of goal the score would have looked more emphatic.

A few half chances for Eastwood before the end, none more so than Wint having two glorious chances to level, and even win the contest. A fantastic cross after 84 by Substitute Isaac Morledge was controlled excellently by Wint but he didn’t have the finish to match.
The same player with another chance two minutes from time but his shot narrowly goes over the bar.

Not a start that was needed but it's early doors and a win this upcoming Wednesday against Belper would get the team back on track.

I spoke to Paul Rockley after the game and here are his thoughts post match:~

"I felt the game was a cagey affair with Sleaford having the upper hand in the first half. The turning point certainly was going down to 10 men which was very disappointing to see.

I felt in the 2nd half we coped well despite being a man down, and Sleaford threw everything at us in first 15 mins which they scored in and it could have been more.

However, after that we managed to slow the game down and managed two clear chances at the end of which we should have scored at least 1. Which for the battling the 10 men did, they would have earned that. Credit to Sleaford for coming through at end. I certainly am encouraged by the game and have no doubt that we can bounce back on Wednesday night against Belper Utd at home"

Attendance ~ 126.
Referee ~ Callum Everatt.
Assistants ~ Duncan Bayes and Lewis Hunt.

Sleaford Town ~ Liam Flitton, Mitch Griffiths, Joe Butler (Ryan Flitton 66') Lewis Daff (Ollie Skinner 57') Kyle Watkins, Charlie Ward (C) Ryan Rushen, Joe Smith, Tom Ward, Joe raithwaite, Shaun Harrad (Sam Wright 92').
Substitutes not used ~ Adam Jackson and Ryan Fenton.
Cautions ~ (Watkins 45' foul) Harrad (91' dissent)

Eastwood CFC~ Warren Squires, Kyle Wrenn, Oliver McCourt, Jahren Barrow, Lavell White (Surafel Tefera 73’) Jacob Sturgess (C) Sam Meakin, Brontae Wint, Tyler Johal, Alex Steadman, Sean Devlin (Isaac Morledge 68’)
Substitutes not used ~ Ellis Chambers, Jamie Light and Alex Graham (GK)
Caution ~ Sturgess (32' foul)
Dismissal ~ Sturgess (45' second yellow)