Having paid my £9 quid and a couple for the programme i headed straight for the bar for the first of many drinks i consumed. The lager flowed as i chatted to a couple of die hard Badgers and we all agreed that the team had started to show alot more fight in the last few weeks or so. Another point of discussion was the crowds at Cannon Park. Over the years attendances have steadily gone up at Retford and were averaging around the 200-250 mark last season. If you weren't in the clubhouse by 2.15ish you used to struggle to get a seat in the large clubhouse. Today the bar was barely half full before kick off. Maybe having the wooden spoon match in the rugby six nations between Scotland and Italy on the big screen in the bar was putting people off i dont know but the crowd of 87 who did show up were treated to a decent enough match and a battling performance from the home side who thoroughly deserved to take home all three points.
At times this season the badgers have named just a bare eleven but today they did at least have one sub and it was a good job as they were forced into a change as early as the 12th minute. Kendall seemed to have come with the attitude that all they had to do was turn up and they would win. Well that went tits up didn't it?
Retford took the lead in the 29th minutes from a breakaway goal following Kendal pressure. The home side had created the best of the chances and thoroughly deserved their lead despite what the BBC Radio Cumbria reporter was saying in his match reports. (We were sat just behind him and it was fun to listen in to the bullshit that he was sending back to his listeners up North). So it was Retford that went in 1-0 at half time and deservedly so in my humble opinion.
Retford continued to dominate after the break and doubled their lead, much to the delight of the home crowd in the 60th minute. It was only now that the penny dropped for Kendal that they were 2-0 down to the whipping boys of the division and their playoff dreams were going up in smoke. Kendal then upped their game and pinned Retford back in their own half for much of the remainder of the match. I have seen a fair bit of Retford this season and they strike me as a 70 minutes team. Up till 70 minutes they compete very well but after that fade, drop off and make daft mistakes. So i wasn't overly confident of them holding out when the visitors scored from close range in the 76th minute. Kendal pretty much laid siege to the Retford goal for the final 15 minutes but for once the badgers stood firm. Retford could have sealed the win on a couple of occasions when they broke in 3 on 2 situations in their favour but either the wrong option was chosen or the final ball just wasn't good enough. With the last play of the game Kendall did have the ball in the net only for the goal to be ruled offside. The flag was up before the ball went in so i must assume that the decision was correct. It would have been very very harsh on Retford had Kendal got anything from the game. So thankfully they didn't and so it was smiles all round!
I then headed back into town for a few pints with a member of the badgers hardcore and it is at this point that my memory becomes a tad hazy.
One final point. It was quite amusing to see a few Kendal players just storm off down the tunnel at the final whistle without shaking hands or anything. Tossers.
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