League Round Up: 31st March

The Lincoln-based Sports failed to convert their early domination into more than one goal and the Nettles stung them with an 87th minute equaliser to share the spoils.

Things could have been worse for the leaders had it not been for their young keeper Oliver Sin-clair, who pulled off a bagful of excellent second half saves.

League fixtures at Grimsby Borough Academy and Wyberton, against Skegness Town and Louth Town respectively, were postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

The only other Lincs League game to survive the wet weather was the Challenge Cup semi-final between Brigg Town Development and Immingham Town.

Immingham stepped into the final with a 3-0 victory, thanks to a Carl Price hat-trick.

Nettleham 1 Ruston Sports 1

Ruston Sports dominated possession during the first half, but some desperate defending by the home side kept them at bay.

Callum Dye tormented the home defence down the right flank and Alex Mackinder threatened in front of goal, but the game was 26 minutes old before the deadlock was broken. Mackinder added to his impressive season’s tally with the opening goal, but Nettleham showed they were up for the battle when they hit the post direct from a free kick late in the half.

After the break it was a different game with the Nettles relentless in their search for an equaliser.

Their keeper Daryl Chappell had failed to show after the interval due to a back injury and centre back Carl Newberry bravely took over between the posts.

His teammates battled to protect him and in doing so put their opponents under enormous pres-sure.

Rustons needed three points to maintain their surge towards the championship crown, and their keeper Sinclair pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the home strikers out. When he was beaten, defender Ben Sharp got back to head off the line.

Sports appeared to have weathered the storm when the Nettles finally drew level. With 86 minutes on the clock a corner from the left was met by Nettleham skipper Jonathan Wiles who bundled the ball over the line from five yards.

Sinclair pulled off a dramatic double save in stoppage time to keep Rustons in the game, leaving both sides to settle for a draw.

Challenge Cup semi-final

Brigg Town Development Squad 0 Immingham Town 3

The Pilgrims from Immingham Town stepped into their second cup final in as many years since their return to the league.

They had Carl Price to thank for helping them make up for the disappointment of their recent Sup-plementary Cup semi-final defeat.

His hat-trick against last season’s losing finalists, sealed their final place, where they will meet ei-ther holders Horncastle Town or Wyberton on April 27.

Results:

Nettleham 1 Ruston Sports 1

Postponed - Grimsby Borough Academy v Skegness Town; Wyberton v Louth Town.

Challenge Cup semi-final - Brigg Town Development Squad 0 Immingham Town 3