Jack Thomas opened the scoring and Nat Watson made it 2-0 shortly before half time. Lancaster halved the lead just before the break thanks to a Bradley Carsley goal. Goals in the second half from Courey Grantham and James Carvell sealed the win for United.

Grantham made sure their name was in the hat for the next round of the FA Cup, with a 3-1 win over Barton Town.

It took Grantham just over 30 minutes to break down a resilient Barton side, when Gregg Smith headed home to make it 1-0 to the Gingerbreads. Their lead lasted barely two minutes. Barton attacked straight from the re-start, their striker was brought down in the box and Barton were level from the resulting penalty.

Grantham increased their lead early in the second half through Craig Westcarr. Ryan Baldwin sealed the win late on, when he tapped the ball home from short range.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS:

The two teams met in the Northern Premier League last season. The first encounter was at Greenwich Avenue on August Bank Holiday Monday. Jack Thomas opened the scoring on seven minutes, only for Ryan Oliver to equalise for Grantham within 60 seconds.

James Reid bagged a goal on 15 minutes and Matt Thornhill put the game beyond doubt in the 66th minute.

The return fixture at The Meres on New Year’s Day would see Grantham win 2-1. Grantham went 2-0 up with goals from Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson and Shaun Harrad either side of half time.

Deon Meikle got a consolation goal for United with the game ending in a 2-1 win for The Gingerbreads.

THE BIG PICTURE:

A win for Chettle’s team could see them go top of the table if Matlock fail to get at least a point at home against eighth placed Gainsborough Trinity.

A win for seventh placed Grantham who are on four points, would see them leapfrog Basford at the end of the day.
But with just two points covering second placed Basford down to 12th placed Scarborough Athletic, the table could look very different come 4:45pm.