The first half started scrappy for both teams, but overall, it was a poor showing from a Sleaford perspective, as a battling Dunkirk put The Greens to the sword. The only real chance of the half for the visitors came after eight minutes of play; a quick throw from Dion Tansey-Potter put Lewis Smith through on goal, but his shot was straight down the throat of the goalkeeper.

After this however, the half was dominated by The Boatmen, as Dunkirk pushed for an opener. They very nearly did open the scoring ten minutes in. A neat passing move saw attacker Jake Fitch one on one with the goalkeeper Ryan Kamm just inside the box, but Kamm stood strong to foil Fitch with his first excellent save of the day.

The rest of the opening forty-five carried on in a similar vein, but nothing clearcut was created to the relief of Sleaford. The showing prompted Greens’ manager Jamie McGhee to make a series of changes at half time, as Riley Wilkinson and Jonathan Timmins were replaced by Jake Henderson and Archie Olivier-Tonrow.

The changes made by McGhee made an instant impact, as Sleaford came out much the better side after the interval, as the scoring was opened after fifty-one minutes courtesy of Ben Robson. A nice piece of individual play from Fin Parker drew a free kick for Town, where the resulting ball was expertly delivered by Clayton Wilkinson, right onto Robson who headed in around the centre spot.

Things looked good for Sleaford, but only four minutes later Dunkirk were awarded a penalty after Kyle Reek was judged to have pulled his man in the area. Up stepped the Dunkirk player, but an unreal save from Kamm down to his bottom right kept the score the same.

From here on in, it was mostly Sleaford who looked to get a second, coming mightily close on a number of occasions. Lewis Smith had a great chance on the six-yard line, but another superb stop, this time from Dunkirk ‘keeper Angus Pritchett, deflected the shot onto the bar.

The game, however, was sealed in stoppage time with the last action of the game. Substitute Kyle Onyon was the goalscorer, as he profited from an unfortunate slip by a Dunkirk defender, allowing him through on goal where he calmly slotted beneath Pritchett to double the lead.

The referee then called time thirty seconds after kick off, marking a crucial victory for The Greens