Battling Hucknall Town lose at Sleaford Town despite spirited fightback

After a poor start to the match the Yellows were unable to fully recover the deficit and, despite a spirited performance, especially in the second half, came away empty handed.

Sleaford took the lead inside the first five minutes when Ryan Lennon capitalised upon a mistake by keeper Alfie Smith-Eccles to steal in and finish calmly from an acute angle.

And the visitors nearly went 2-0 down minutes later, only to be saved by the bar as Sebastian Robbemond rattled the woodwork.

After that Hucknall got more in to the game until Sleaford grabbed their second goal on 35 minutes as Lennon seized upon a Mason Rowley error to round Smith-Eccles and slot home into an empty net.

Credit to the visitors for not giving up after that second goal went in and a very positive response by Niall Towle from Joe Ashurst’s set piece cross, saw the striker head cleanly into the net just before the break as half-time saw the Yellows still in touch.

In a second half low on clear chances, Hucknall defended better, but were forced to make changes for injuries to Saad and Barnett.

Both teams cancelled each other out in midfield and although there were no clear shots at Smith-Eccles, neither was there much work for the Sleaford keeper. In a spell towards the end Hucknall had most of the possession but little end product despite a big effort to get back on terms.