In front of a large and at times raucous crowd, Radford emerged 2-0 victors from a tight battle between two good teams and in doing so put the first points of the season on the league table.

Sandiacre came with a plan to not give Raddy a moment on the ball, and although it was indeed mostly all Sandiacre in the first 15 minutes, Radford started to settle and take control of the game after that. Musa Jawara added the first goal on 23 minutes, racing through and slotting left footed past the goalkeeper from the edge of the box. With the game 1-0 at half-time, both teams came out on fire in the second half- perhaps a little too much so for the Sandiacre number 8, red-carded for a full-blooded challenge on 55 minutes. Credit to Sandiacre, however, who perhaps looked even more dangerous when down to 10 men. They held out until deep into time added on, when Radford burst forwards from their own 6 yard box, to the half-way line, a lovely pass setting Dennan Morgan clear and when his clipped shot from the edge of the box cleared the keeper, only the crossbar could intervene. Following up on the rebound was Abdul Bakare, whose shot was fumbled over the line by the keeper, much to the delight of the home fans and despair of the Sandiacre players and supporters.

An excellent 3 points and a determined performance sets the Pheasants up nicely for Saturday’s visit to Pinchbeck United. Note, this is a 3pm kick off at Sleaford Town’s ground,  Eslaforde Park, NG43 9GH, where the club are now ground-sharing for the season ahead.

Radford’s first goal, slotted home from the edge of the box by Musa Jawara