23/08/2026
A frustrating end to an entertaining pre-season battle.
An eventful morning in Retford saw us play out a 4-4 draw with Kings Arms Reserves. Reno produced the game’s first moment of quality, spotting the keeper off his line and chipping him from around 40 yards. The hosts responded quickly though when a long-range effort took a wicked deflection off Jake and looped over Raz to make it 1-1. We regained the lead after Aidan played Kyran through the middle, who finished confidently into the bottom-left corner. Not long after, a whipped corner from Reno was met by Jake, whose header dropped nicely for Kyran to tuck away his second. The hosts responded again shortly before the break when a through ball released their runner on the left side of the box. His run appeared to have been made too early and was duly flagged offside, but after he finished into the top-right corner, the referee overruled his linesman from some distance away and allowed the goal to stand. 3-2 at half-time.
The second half remained a good, physical contest and we eventually made it 4-2 from a deep free kick. Reno delivered to the back, Jake headed it down and Newbs, despite being a couple of yards out, generously squared it for Matt to finish. We grew tired as the half wore on, but stayed in control until a dubious penalty brought the hosts back into it. Jake aggressively winning the first aerial ball in our box before being called upon moments later, winning a second header with considerably less force. Bizarrely, it was the second challenge that prompted the referee to point to the spot, which Kings Arms converted. Then, right at the death, another controversial decision followed. A through ball released their winger down the middle from an obvious offside position, apparent to everyone but the referee, and he was inexplicably allowed to continue and finish at the near post for 4-4. The referee, again, overruling the flag. Unsurprisingly, utter disbelief and outrage ensued, but the decision stood. A frustrating way for an otherwise good, competitive game to finish, but another valuable 90 minutes in the legs and plenty to take into the rest of pre-season.
⚽ Reno
⚽⚽ Kyran
⚽ Matt
