Nunsthorpe v Crowle Colts

The Colts missed an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Lincolnshire League after a damp afternoon on the artificial pitch at Bradley Football Centre, home of Nunsthorpe FC. Crowle had won by the only goal of the game when the sides met at Windsor Park in February but found their opponents a tougher prospect under a Grimsby sky.

Despite being two goals down at half-time, it was the Colts who might have opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Ryan Bonser took the ball around Dan Harrison in Nunsthorpe’s goal only to see his shot cleared by a covering defender. It was midway through the half that the home side went in front, Tommy Austwick was first to the rebound when Dave Deane’s shot was saved.

Nunsthorpe’s second strike was scored by John Waugh who collected the ball on the right and guided a shot inside the near post. Crowle’s goal in the home game had come from a penalty kick, and it was from the spot that Ben Johnson made the score two-one, ten minutes after half-time. The two-goal difference re-appeared after a precise shot from outside the Colts’ penalty area by Luke Borrill which smashed into the top corner of the goal.

The score stood at three-one until the last fifteen minutes when Waugh, from the same spot as Borrill, found the opposite top corner via the underside of the bar. A brief spot of hope flickered into life when Ryan Farnham headed Crowle’s second goal from around the back post following a short corner, but it was quickly extinguished by Deane who drilled a low free kick into the Colts’ goal three minutes later.