Three changes were made to the side that lost 4-0 to Dronfield last time out, with captain Jonathan Timmins, Lewis Greenfield and Harvey Graves exiting the starting 11, being replaced by Archie Olivier-Townrow, Andy Whalen and Joe Nicholson.

In the opening minutes, Nicholson was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury, with Lewis Smith the chosen substitute, giving Sleaford an early switch-around on the pitch.

Retford FC created chances early on, but nothing clear cut until the 18th minute. An attacker ran into a dangerous position, and was brought down by James Twigg, who tried pulling out of the sliding challenge but was too late, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. The penalty was taken by Jacob Priestnall, but Josh Wilson managed to get across to it and parry it away brilliantly.

The pressure from the hosts did eventually result in a goal. A corner was swung into a dangerous area, with Wilson failing to clear it properly, the ball hitting Coleman and landing into the open net.

Dangerous chances continued for the Choughs, with a shot from Jack McKay being directed towards the bottom corner, only for Wilson to save it brilliantly. Moments later Priestnall came close to finding Retfords second, but it was just wide of goal.

The rest of the first half had very little quality in the final third, with Sleafords defence keeping compact, working to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

As the second half started, Sleaford showed their intentions to get back into the match, and grew into it nicely.

This sense of belief grew, with the Greens eventually finding themselves level. A free kick from Clayton Wilkinson was looped in to the back post. Coleman jumped highest, with his header beating Callum Fielding, giving Sleaford hope that they could secure points.

Ten minutes after the equaliser, Sleaford found themselves behind again. McKay found himself in space as Retford looked to break, and his driven cross couldn't be claimed by goalkeeper Wilson, scrambling it into the path of his namesake, who tapped it in from point blank range.

Sleaford piled the pressure back on Retford, and were given more hope when the hosts were reduced to ten men. Defender Brad Hextall dragged Whalen down to the ground, and appeared to stamp on the attacker as he got back up. This was in clear vision of referee Gary Slater, who reached to his back pocket almost straight away, sending Hextall for an early shower.

Late on, a cross from Whalen reached the arriving Greenfield, who was in space at the back post. His shot looked destined to nestle in the back of the net, but Fielding made a brilliant stop with his foot to deny the substitute a goal.

Retford came close to a third in added time, with substitute Rory Coleman clattering the post from a drilled effort from just outside the box.

The last chance of the game came for Sleaford, with Greenfield creating a chance out of nothing thanks to his quick feet, but his effort ended up flying just wide of target, agonisingly so for Sleaford players and fans alike.

In the end, it was a 2-1 defeat for Sleaford, with the Greens now looking to perform in similar fashion next weekend, as they travel to Shirebrook Town in the United Counties League Division One.