Long Eaton United 0-1 Retford United

It was a bit of a last minute decision to attend this game but i am glad we did as it turned out to be a decent evening out and both sides played their part in a decent game which was played in tricky conditions. Long Eaton is nestled just inside the Derbyshire side of the Nottighamshire/Derbyshire border. Its also on the far side of Nottingham from Retford so it is a bit of a bitch to get to. All this added up to us missing the first five minutes or so but chatting to folk who got there early we didn't miss much/anything of note.
 On our way through the winding roads of our beautiful county we encounted a pretty heavy downpour which did raise concerns that the game could be called off, but the rain eased off and although it did rain on and off it wasn't heavy enough to hamper our enjoyment of the game.
 After parking up we dodged the puddles and approached the turnstiles and parted with our £5 entrance fee which seems to be the going rate for this division. I didn't see any programmes for sale at this point and assumed that due to this being a huge game that would have attracted fans from far and wide, the programmes had all been snapped up. Speaking of snap, Felice and Barry were a tad on the hungry side. (Fucking starving was the way they phrased it i believe) so they dashed into the clubhouse in search of food. Unfortunately they were to be disappointed, because it appeared that the club weren't serving hot food. However the club had put some food on for weary ground hoppers. On the bar sat a plate of cheese rolls and ham rolls that were wrapped in sweaty clingfilm and on sale for the bargain price of £1. To be honest they weren't the most appetising things i have ever seen, so i can't really blame the chaps for not purchasing one. Plans were then hastily made to visit a kebab shop on the journey back. The reason Baz said he didn't purchase was that in his view the ham was too thin. There is no pleasing that boy sometimes.

Long Eaton's Grange Park is a tidy little ground which is dominated by the "Big Jim stand" which is a smart seated stand which is split into two sections. Obviously it isn't segregated, as you can imagine crowd trouble in the NCEL is rare. Retford are one of the better supported sides in this league and they had again travelled in good numbers and had taken over the left hand side of the stand with the home fans congregating on the right hand side. To the right hand side of Big Jim's stand is a small covered standing area. The only other covered area in the ground is a small seated area on the opposite side of the ground to the two afore mentioned stands. There is no covering behind either goal but there is hard standing all around the ground. Given the weather it was hardly surprising that this game had attracted a low gate. The three of us braved the weather and stood behind the goal that Retford were defending in the first half.
Both sides have made good starts to the season. Retford had won two from their three fixtures while Long Eaton had taken maximum points from there first three matches.
The first half wasn't short on entertainment as both sides created plenty of chances but failed to take them. I would say that the hosts had slightly the better of things. I saw Retford record a fine 3-0 win on the opening day and they looked defensively solid however tonight they looked a little unsure although the conditions weren't really helping either side play the ball on the deck.
At half time we ventured back to the clubhouse to get warm and have a cup of tea which Mr Oxby treated us all to. I spied a pile of programmes for tonight's game behind the bar and bagged one for £1.50. I didn't read it there and then, but now having read through it i must say i am very impressed with it. Long Eaton are managed by former Imp loanee and former Worksop assistant gaffer Mick Galloway and his column is quite interesting and its good to see a manager talking sense. There is plenty to read in the programme and you can tell that the editor has put alot of time and effort into it.

Sky Sports news was on in the club house with the main score of note being The Rangers FC upsetting the odds yet again by beating Falkirk away in the cup. There were no other Scottish teams of note playing tonight but quite a few football league matches going on. Not that that is of any interest to me these days.

For the second half we strolled round to the other side of the ground and sat down thus resting our weary legs. Although the stand was far from full, it did mean putting up with the local Long Eaton nutter, who was not only very vocal in his support for his heroes but was also intent on commentating on the match into a little voice recorder thing. He was the kind of character that you would only find at a non league ground.

On the pitch Retford got better as the game went on. Long Eaton tried to hit Retford on the break but as in the first half their finishing let them down. Then with only minutes to go Retford's pressure paid off as they grabbed the points, after they took the lead following a goal mouth scramble when the home side failed to clear their lines. I am not sure what happened after the goal but somebody from the Retford bench was shown the red card.
On the way back we made a trip to a kebab shop but as i am now back in training i gave the food a wide berth. Even i was quite impressed with the fact i managed to resist bad food after a midweek football match.

Elsewhere in the footballing world, Inter continued their Europa League campaign with a good 2-0 win away at FC Vaslui in the first leg on Thursday night. I will leave you with this video of the goals. The game was a very important one for Inter skipper Javier Zannetti who played his 800th game for Inter. The man is simply a legend.

See you later.