Match 14. Grantham Town v Salford City

Saturday 28^th November 2015 @3pm

Evo-stik League Premier Division

GRANTHAM TOWN 2-0 SALFORD CITY

The Meres, South Kesteven Sports Centre, Trent Road, Grantham NG31 7XQ

Admission: £10

Programme: £2 (48pp lots of ads)

Attendance: 788

Refreshments: Cheese & Bacon burger, £4. Chips & curry sauce, £2. Bovril, £1.50. Becks Blue, £2.50.

Chose this fixture with the Class of ’92 bandwagon riding into Grantham and the opportunity for the family to visit old friends in nearby Bottesford (Nott’m).  The car journey up from Kent was trouble free and after the drop off arrived in the large car park by 2.15pm.  Eventually found the clubhouse from inside the ground, using the players’ tunnel.  It’s easier to go to the clubhouse from outside the main stand before the match, but the doorman allowed me back inside the ground before the teams came out.  In the clubhouse on the next table to me was Mr G Neville, with a gaggle of people queuing up for a selfie with the Sky pundit.  Fair play to him, who spent half an hour doing the honours with a smile and then ended up 2 rows behind me in the main stand to watch the first half an hour before leaving to do his day job at the Crisp Stadium in Leicester.  I can’t fault the dedication from the former Man Utd man, who appears to be spearheading the “project”. 

The stadium is one with an athletics track around the pitch and it offers hard standing all round, although pointless to watch behind either goal as the rail is about 30 metres away from the goalposts. There is the main stand, built in 2 tiers with the club facilities attached to the back of the stand and is impressive for non-league level. The upper tier offers the best view of the match even though the 8 lane running track puts the viewer a fair distance from the pitch.  A large covered terrace is on the opposite touchline. 

The bumper crowd were in for an extremely dull first half, with only 2 shots on target, both were Grantham shots. The winner was the blustery wind from right to left, not helping the players. I thought the Salford team had thoughts of staying injury free with next weeks FA Cup match as they looked to be playing in 2^nd gear all match.  The second half brought driving rain and with Salford having to contend with that in their faces, together with the Gingerbreads looking more positive, the home side deserved their win.  Both goals coming in the last 20 minutes from corner set pieces. The first was a header in from the far post and the second was blasted in from a crowded penalty area both scored by Rhys Lewis.

The drive home was one accompanied by heavy rain for the dark A1 part of the trip but a happy day out was had by all in the car.