Townsend moved to get behind the ball, it struck Ludlam ' s foot and changed direction and ended up in the back of the net. Game on? Surely not! 1-2 For the record, Ludlam hasn ' t claimed the goal, so it ' s Funnell who gets the credit. " Within four minutes of their first goal United were level. " Gordon ' s shot was blocked and fell kindly for Funnell and he struck the ball first time, forcing a reflex save from Townsend, who parried the ball into the path of Gordon... he couldn ' t miss from that kind of range and the game was turned completely on it ' s head. 2-2 " There ' s still two more to come!" chuckled our Brian. " ' Ha ha, yes of course there is... I ' ll present Match of the Day tonight in Gary Lineker ' s underpants if that happens!' Thankfully he never heard me. " Young Walters, showing technique and composure beyond his years, raced forward with the ball and released it through the Wrens defence to pick out the run of Funnell who made no mistake from ten yards out. 3-2 " Walters once again, proved the old adage that if you ' re good enough, you ' re big enough and old enough, when he had a hand in the Badgers fourth goal, forcing Townsend to run from his area to head the Retford wingers forward pass away, but his attempted clearance dropped for Charlie Sykes, who lobbed the ball over the stranded Wrens keeper. 4-2 " Four of ' em! You wouldn ' t believe me would you!?" Beamed our resident tipster. Hands up, you ' re right Brian, I didn ' t. And neither did anyone else. " Alas, unbeknownst to the 107 shell shocked spectators looking on, we couldn ' t have envisaged that there were still another four goals in the offing... and Rainworth bagged them all, to tilt the seesaw the other way again. Matt Sykes netted the first goal of his second half hat trick, when he picked up a pass from Phil Buxton and drilled the ball across the face of Davies ' goal and it nestled just inside the far post. 4-3 " Dillon O ' Connor sprinted away down the left flank and Funnell and Jason Carter were a fraction away from scoring a fifth goal for the home side. But Rainworth picked up their momentum again, from Townsend ' s goal kick and there was a scramble to clear the ball inside Retford ' s goaslmouth, but it glanced off of Matt Plant ' s head towards Liam Morris and he crashed home the equaliser from close range. 4-4 ' What ' s your prediction now Brian?' " Shurrup and get writing all of this lot down you!" " O ' Connor tripped Matt Sykes as he advanced on Retford ' s goal, but the referee must ' ve been too busy writing down all of the goal details, because he missed the foul completely. " Moxam got goal side of Melvin, but he rushed his shot and put it over. " Morris teed up the ball for
Matt Sykes, the Badgers defence stood off him for a moment and that was all he needed, as he picked his spot and put Rainworth back in front. 4-5 With just three minutes remaining Moxam was seemingly seeing time out over by the corner flag, as he shielded the ball from three Retford players, who were battling to dispossess him. But Moxam slipped free of their attentions and squared the ball into the Badgers goalmouth, where Matt Sykes struck a firm shot past Davies to claim his hat trick. 4-6 In stoppage time, Walters got away from his marker, but pulled his shot just wide of Townsend ' s goal and it was too late for the home side to stage another fightback now. FT: Retford United 4( Four) v Rainworth Miners Welfare 6( Six) " What a completely crazy game of football. " If I was either manager, I wouldn ' t have any complaints about any of my front players, but some of the slapstick defending would have driven me insane. " Ten goals though... it ' s a good job both goalkeepers are half decent. " One small but significant point to finish, well done to Retford United for finally having shirt numbers you can actually read and see clearly this season; these sort of things really matter and are of the utmost importance.
Issue 01 @ TheBootifulGame 56