Nantwich Town 3
Grantham Town 1
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Nantwich Town made light work of their visitors when they eased to a 3-1 win over Grantham in the bright winter sunshine at Weaver Stadium.

The Dabbers maintained their outside chances of a play-off spot with a comfortable victory over sixth-placed opponents from Lincolnshire.

Nantwich were ahead on 15 minutes when a neat corner routine carved out an opening for Sean Cooke who fired beyond Kieran Preston.

Grantham enjoyed good spells of possession in the first period but Nantwich’s defence was well marshalled.

And on 36 minutes, the hosts doubled their advantage when a Cooke free kick was headed home by Harry Clayton.

In the second half, Grantham huffed and puffed and Fabian Speiss came to Nantwich’s rescue between the sticks on more than one occasion.

But as the visitors committed more men forward for a way back into the match, Nantwich broke clear on 72 minutes to seal all three points. A through ball from Cooke found the marauding Matt Bell who slotted home off the inside of the post for 3-0.

Lee Shaw went close a couple of times for Grantham, before finally netting a consolation goal on 89 minutes. He broke clear of the defensive line and slid it past Speiss.

Shaw almost made it a nervy finish a minute later when he rattled the Nantwich post, but the Dabbers held their nerve for the victory.

It moves them up to 13th in the league, and with games in hand Dave Cooke’s men are not out of the play-off running just yet.

Match report written by the Nantwich News