Retford United 2 v Liversedge 0 - NCEL Prem

Tuesday 1st April 2014

at Cannon Park/Jones & Co. Stadium
NCEL Premier Division
Retford United (2) 2
Reece Thompson 38, 43 pen
Liversedge (0) 0
Admission £5. Programme £1.50. Attendance 70

Retford United:
Hitchcock, Holdsworth (Swannack 57), Smith, Stannard, Sanderson, Gaughan (Nelthorpe 80), Jones, Hadley, Cooper, Thompson, Muirhead (Jarvis 80).
Unused subs - O'Neill, Fuller.
Liversedge:
Briggs, Dawson, White, Hope (Haigh 30), Farrer, Markham (Janneh 82), Wilkinson, Thompson, Grogan, Corley, Hey (Charlton 80).
Liversedge used all three of their listed subs

Tonight, I watched a much better performance by Retford United's first team, than I've witnessed for quite a while.
Liversedge reshuffled their pack at half time and it was a fairly evenly contested game after the break, but Retford had done all the damage that was required to claim a 2-0 in the first half, which, in essence, was basically a 45 minute episode of 'the Reece Thompson Show'.
Obviously, there is no such thing as a one man team, but Reece deserved any plaudits that come his way after tonight's efforts.
Though Liversedge did create a few half decent chances early in the game, particularly through the wing play of Eli Hey, the badgers finished the first half strongly and deservedly went in at the interval two goals to the good.
Reece Thompson was popping up all over the place and giving the 'Sedge defence a proper run around and it was no surprise that when Retford broke the deadlock on 38 minutes, it was through a Thompson strike, that he had instinctively carved out for himself. His hooked shot from 20 yards caught everybody out as it nestled into the back of the net. A most excellent finish young Reece!

Thompson was possibly tripped in the build up to the penalty award, on 43 minutes, but the referee, Ollie Bickle, waved play on, then Liam Gaughan hit the deck under what looked like minimal contact and the official blew up and pointed to the spot.
Reece Thompson wasn't unduly concerned about how 'debatable' the decision was and he buried the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net, out of the reach of Ben Briggs.
As I've already said, the second half was tightly contested and a hard working Liversedge side, did well to plug a few gaps that denied Retford's forwards from benefitting from the same lines of supply that they had enjoyed before the break.
Had it not been for James Hitchcock, turning a thumping low shot from Kieran Corley round his post, the visitors might have got back into the game, but in the end, the spell of pressure that Retford exerted on 'Sedge, towards the end of the first half, saw them win through.
FT - Retford United 2 v Liversedge 0

Insert witty 'Last of the Summer Wine' caption

All the pictures used above were taken on a crappy old Olympus Camedia camera (it shows, eh!?) that I got for £6.50 from Cash Converters in Darlington.
To peruse some proper photos, click THIS LINK and marvel at Jon Knight of Retford United's professionally taken images.