Badger Badger Badger Badger....

Two midweek matches for me this week with the focus being Retford United and the rebuilding job that the club is currently undergoing.
After one of the most comprehensive relegations on planet Earth last season the club was faced with a massive re-building job both on and off the pitch.

The club decided to take an extra drop on top of the relegation and joined the Northern Counties East premier division. On the pitch former Blidworth boss Brett Marshall was given the managers job and began to totally rebuild the team from scratch. Retford's new era started in earnest on Tuesday night when they took on Sheffield FC (The worlds oldest club blah blah blah)

Retford United 1-3 Sheffield FC
One reason some of the good folk of Retford gave for not going to watch Retford last season was the £9 admission price was to steep. Well that has now changed and entrance to Cannon Park will now be £5. I was one of the first into the ground on Tuesday night so there was little to do other than visit the bar. One plus point of dropping down the divisions is the fact that the ground regulations also drop. You can now enter the clubhouse from the front door and sup your pint outside as long as you stay under the covering outside the clubhouse. Told you there was some good things about dropping two leagues!

Sheffield fc had drawn with Sheffield United at the weekend so they would provide the new look badgers with a stern test. The former Retford manager had brought a squad of 22 players with him and gave most of them a run out. The crowd was over three figures, which was pleasing. The visitors didn't bring as many supporters with them as i thought they would but there you go.

Off the pitch Baz didn't seem impressed with his chicken donner wrap that he picked up on the way up (He still ate it all mind!). Even though i had already eaten i still found room to stuff in a chip buttie at the ground. football and food just seem to go together. Felice is getting on a bit these days so Lee took pity on him and walked round the ground to fetch him a cup of tea. Lee was also getting a tad worried that the club shop wouldn't be open but thankfully it was opened at halftime. A shorter version of the programme was issued for a £1.

Retford seemed to gel quickly and took the game to the visitors. The Badgers took the lead on 24mins through Jordan Pickering with a calm finish from close range. This seemed to wake Sheffield up and they started to control the match. The had created a couple of chances by the time they equalised on 42mins. It was worth the wait. The ball was half cleared but then knocked into the net by Cyrus Lewis via a great finish over his shoulder on the edge of the box.

Even though they had drawn level it wasn't enough for the Sheffield gaffer as he kept his team out on the pitch to deliver a bollocking to his troops.
Sheffield took the lead on 71mins with another cracking goal this time a fine individual effort from Shane Kelsey. Sheffield rounded off the scoring with the last kick of the game through Andy Gascoigne. Sheffield deserved their win but Retford will take a lot of heart from this display against higher league opposition and will have got a bit of an idea as to who can play at this level and who cant.

Hucknall Town 0-2 Retford United

Retfords second match of the week was a trip to Nottinghamshires crisis club Hucknall Town. Hucknall were relegated along with Retford last season but even worse news came off the pitch. Financial problems and a run in with the tax man had dictated that the playing and coaching staff have had to go completely amateur and wont even receive travelling expenses. Given this and the fact there are quite a few non league clubs nearby that can pay players it would be a miracle if Town can keep most of their better players. Tonight's game could well be the last one together for alot of these Hucknall Town players. Only time will tell.
Given what has happened it was no surprise that everybody at the club seemed to be quite down. The ground is quite run down on the outside in places which just added to the atmosphere. A second hand auction in the clubhouse was also depressing so we took our drinks out into the hallway. In the hall way the plans for a new ground are still on display. Can't see these being realised for a good few years now. If ever.
Entrance tonight was £5 and no programme was produced. You would have thought that with all Hucknall's problems the townsfolk would rally round them. Not so. The crowd was a mere 60 and i would estimate that at least half of them and travelled to watch Retford.

Hucknall's problems shouldn't take the gloss off of what was a strong performance from Retford. The Badgers took the lead on 12 minutes when a scuffed volley from Nathan Millington on the edge of the box left former Retford and Lincoln keeper James Lindley flat footed. Whether he thought that it was going wide or was just caught off guard i don't know. Either way it ended up it the back of the Hucknall net.
It wasn't a great game if truth be told. Hucknall tried to get back into it but Retford held firm. Other than the odd half chance there really wasn't much to shout about.
At half time we had a wander around the sparsely populated ground and decided to watch the second half from the seated area along the touchline.

Hucknall came back into it a bit more in the second half when they brought on an "old fashioned English centre forward type player" but he still wasn't enough to unsettle Retford. The game pretty much ended as a contest on 75mins when Brad Wells scored with a great solo effort. The match then petered out and Retford recorded their first pre season win.