Below-par Sleaford get out of jail to land point against Selston
Sleaford Town were held to their first home draw of the season in UCL Division One on Saturday as Selston left with a 1-1 draw following a disappointing Greens performance.
It wasn’t a game that caught the eye at the BPH Stadium as both sides scrapped in an ugly clash, but in the end there was nothing to separate them.
The result still left Sleaford in a healthy seventh, one point outside the play-off spots.
Boss Jamie McGhee said. “I don't think we turned up at all today and I think we got out of jail. We had no control in the game and second half there only looked like one winner.
“There was no energy about us, it was a little bit huff and puff. That's not the standard we set today.
“We were so far off. But I'm not going to take anything away from Selston and they did well to make it difficult for us.
“But we didn't help ourselves out at all – you win games of football by being good on second balls and then getting control of a game, and we didn't do that today.”
The contest began uneventfully but came to life after the 20th minute when Sleaford took the lead in bullish fashion.
A Jonathon Timmins throw from the left hand side was taken down by Lewis Smith just inside the box, who held off his marker and turned to finish low and hard at the near post.
However, it was not long until parity was restored as Alex Hardman equalised just four minutes later.
A lapse in concentration was to blame for Sleaford.
A low cross into the box from the right wing was poorly dealt with by debutant goalkeeper Henry Marvin, who flapped at the delivery, allowing Hardman to pounce and finish on the error. That was as good as the half got, as quality quickly evaporated.
The beginning of the second period began in an identical vein as both teams cancelled each other out in a scrappy showing.
The moment of the half was undoubtedly Dotmond Adeoti’s disallowed goal, which could have won the game for Sleaford.
The second half substitute was judged to have committed a high foot by the referee, only seconds before firing into the top corner on the half-volley.
Towards the end, there were a handful of half chances for both sides. Kyle Onyon came closest for Sleaford, as he drew a superb stop from Selston’s No.1.
Then a one-on-one save from Greens’ goalkeeper Marvin denied the visitors in stoppage time as he looked to redeem himself from his previous error.