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