Clipstone held to draw against Retford after chances go begging

Having taken an early lead courtesy of Will Heather’s fine finish, sloppy defending allowed the visitors to score twice in the first half.

To their credit the home side kept plugging away in the second half and were finally rewarded with three minutes left when defender Dec Whitton scored from close range.

With manager Dave Hoole away on holiday, Assistant Manager Dale Spragg made one change to the starting eleven that were beaten on penalties in the FA Vase seven days earlier with Will Heather coming in for Chris Smith.

And Heather was quick to make his mark when we just ten minutes gone he found a great finish to give the Cobras a deserved lead after quick break involving Dec Sorrell and Jack Warwick had put him through on goal.

His cool finish gave the former Worksop Town ‘keeper Jon Kennedy no chance.

Kennedy then had to produce a smart save to keep out a Jack Warwick shot from the edge of the box after good work by Joe Massey and Dec Sorrell.

The Cobras then took their foot of the gas and allowed Retford to gain a foothold in the game.

The visitors firstly hit the bar in the 15th minute from a long range speculative effort by full back Leon Loftus. They then had four good chances in a row around the 25 minute mark with two saves from Charlie Bryan, a Dec Whitton goal line clearance and the woodwork denying the visitors.

However in the 26th minute Retford’s efforts were finally rewarded when Luke Adby was first to get a touch to a cross and steer the ball past Charlie Bryan as several Clipstone defenders looked on.

The visitors doubled their lead in the 31st minute after Alex Wonham’s scuffed shot rolled across the penalty area to Shaun Mundy who spotted that Bryan had started to come out to collect but then hesitated.

The Retford forward kept his nerve and placed his shot past the stranded ‘keeper and inside the near post.

The Cobras created one other chance just before the break when a long ball from skipper Mitch Mullins found Jack Warwick in the box but he headed over from eight yards.

After the first ten minutes of the second half produced no goals, Dale Spragg made a double substitution with Jack Lowe and Josh Pickering replacing Sorrell and Lewis Warwick respectively, the latter having picked up a knock, and the home side had a better shape about them to deal with Retford’s long ball policy.

The best chances for the home side were a close range Jack Warwick header from a Jordan Wells cross that drew a fine save from Kennedy and then Jack Lowe put a shot over both Kennedy and the goal when clear through on goal in the final ten minutes.

However the home side got the point they fully deserved after Lowe was fouled on the edge of the area and Kennedy could only parry Wells’ free kick and Dec Whitton was quick to react and stab the ball home.

There was still time for substitute Josh Pickering to find Jack Warwick and whilst the latter showed good control to get the ball down, he couldn’t find the target. At the other end Retford number five Liam Bennett headed a corner just over Bryan’s bar.

The Cobras remain in 15th place in the league with 8 points from 9 games and are now away to Harrogate Railway on Tuesday 21st September, 7.45pm.