The home side dominated midfield and possession, playing neat football, but won the game with two quick, direct strikes. Grantham had chances with new signing Kieran Wells having the best opportunities.

“I thought we matched them for clear chances.” Said Grantham manager Paul Rawden. “The performance was far better than the FA Cup. We hit the post and our keeper hasn’t had much to do. We didn’t get the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions, including the penalty and that’s what we had to deal with.”

The penalty incident came in the tenth minute. A cross into the edge of the penalty area looked to be dropping perfectly for Kieran Wells. He was barged off the ball from behind by a Nantwich defender, but referee Mr Cattell saw nothing wrong with the challenge.

A few minutes later, the home side began to exert some pressure. A cross from Matty Devine found Sean Cooke. Connor Bartle did well to block the Nantwich striker’s shot. Valdemar Schousboe had a clear header a minute later, but missed the target for the hosts.

On 17 minutes, a direct approach from Nantwich saw the game’s first goal. Francois Zoko was eased off the ball in midfield and a quick pass sent Joe Mwasile charging towards the Grantham goal. He picked his spot and fired high past Anton Kanuric.

The home side controlled the game, playing some neat passing football, but not breaking down the Grantham defence. With the Gingerbreads pushed onto the back foot, the front two began to look isolated as Grantham could not maintain possession. After 34 minutes, the Gingerbreads lost possession after a free kick when Adam Smith was robbed in midfield and Nantwich broke. Mwasile played a good pass to Cooke, but Declan Dunn got across to block his effort.

Late in the first half, the Gingerbreads had a couple of chance to have levelled the game. From a corner after 39 minutes, one shot was blocked before the ball dropped quickly to Wells, but he fired wide. Two minutes later, a high cross from Bartle caused panic in the home defence. Greg Hall dropped the ball under challenge and Wells was in the right place again. This time his effort beat the Nantwich defence, but hit the foot of the post.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first. Nantwich played patient football with Caspar Hughes and Cooke able to move the ball around at will, but could not create much against a solid Grantham back line. Again, however the Gingerbreads struggled to create their own chances and conceded to a piece of direct football.

Nine minutes into the second half, Nantwich sealed the game with a second goal. A long ball forward was controlled by Mwasile and again he picked out Cooke. This time, Cooke had space to look up and curl a shot past Kanuric.
Kanuric kept the score at two with a couple of good saves. After 61 minutes, Nantwich broke quickly after a Grantham corner. Michael Tweed slipped allowing Schousboe to close in on goal. Kanuric pulled off a good save to deny the Nantwich striker.

Cooke tried his luck from outside the penalty area midway through the half, but his range was off. He fired wide after a corner, then curled a shot close to the top corner when Devine picked him out again. Kanuric went full length to keep out a 73rd minute low shot from Mwasile and again to deny substitute Ricardo Fuller a debut goal.

The home side continued to dominate and Kanuric was twice in action in the last five minutes. Nantwich got a free kick from a similar challenge to the one Mr Cattell decided was not a penalty earlier in the game. Cooke hit a lovely free kick, but Kanuric showed his quality again to keep the score at two.