Nottinghamshire intermediate challenge cup final.
Tonight's final was played at Rainworth miners welfare home ground. I didn't take many pictures but by clicking here http://razorferret.blogspot.com/2009/08/rainworth-miners-welfare-v-heather-st.html you can see more pics from when we visited earlier in the season for an FA cup match. Rainworth is always a friendly place to visit and is one of the better grounds in the NECL. This and its central location in Nottinghamshire made it the perfect place to stage a final.
The two sides play in different leagues. Retford compete in the Doncaster senior league while Gedling ply there trade in the Nottinghamshire senior league. (Although Nottingham senior league would be a more apt title.) From what i have seen the Doncaster league is the strongest so on that basis i had Retford down as favourates but i will admit i was a tad bias. Also the fact that on this cup run Retford have slammed 5 goals three times and 4 goals once against NSL sides helped. In fact we watched the third round match when Retford slammed 5 past Awsworth villa details here http://razorferret.blogspot.com/2009/12/retford-town-5-3-awsworth-villa.html
We arrived in good time and got settled in the clubhouse. Beer was a very reasonable £1.50 per can. We chatted to a couple of rogue Retford united fans about various goings on in non-league football. Quite a few RUFC fans had made the trip to support town but i would say 70% of the crowd were cheering on Gedling. Just before the match i had a brief chat with Malc who writes the excellent "on the road" blog about how he felt Mansfield Towns season had gone. He wasnt to impressed with the stags season, a bit like my views on the Imps season really.
As with most finals the opening 20 mins or so was close but as the match worn on Gedling started to create so good chances and seemed to have Retford on the back foot. Only some last ditch tackles and poor finishing kept the game goalless.
On 31 mins Retford scored against the run of play. There was a hint of offside in the build up but who cares the ref gave it. Gedling didn't let there heads dropped and had another chance kicked of the line just before half time.
In the second half the game tightened up but as it wore on Gedling started to run out of ideas and ended up just hoofing the ball into the Retford box. Retford saw out the game to take the cup!
Admission £2 (including free programme)
Drink £1.50 per can of fosters
Wag factor 7/10 the sun always brings them out.
Quality of match 8/10
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