The Gingerbreads travelled to the Family Only Stadium however they found themselves two goals down at half-time after goals from Evan Garnett and Connor Pace.

Both players finished off their braces in the second half, with Connor completing his in the 52nd minute and Evan scoring again for his in the 73rd.

This was our last home game of the season; however, we travel to AFC Rushden & Diamonds next Saturday before we begin the play-offs with promotion in sight.

Brad Munn made one change to the side that was defeated by Sporting Khalsa on Saturday with Evan Garnett replacing Tristan Thompson Matthews.

It was a fairly even start to the game as both sides had chances to open the scoring, however we took the lead in the 23rd minute thanks to a goal from our striker, Evan Garnett. James Shaw had a shot saved from a tight angle but the rebound fell straight into the path of Garnett who tapped the ball into the net at the back post.

We doubled our lead just a minute before the half-time whistle was blew. Connor Pace had his first effort on goal saved by James Leverton however he followed up with a second attempt and found the net, giving us a two-goal cushion.

The Blues started the second half in a fast manner as we increased our lead to three in the 53rd minute. Pace was played through brilliantly as he took the ball into his stride and unleashed a shot so powerful that Leverton could not keep the effort out after getting a hand to it. We had three and Connor now had three in his last two games.

Long Eaton came close to a fourth just a minute after as Andrew Wright was played through on goal, however our skipper had his shot saved by Leverton who pulled off a good save.

We had our fourth and final goal of the game in the 73rd minute and it was Garnett who had his second. Substitute, Dexter Walters, rifled an effort towards goal and it was helped into the net by Evan as he managed to get a foot to the ball before the keeper had a chance.

Grantham threated to pull one back in the 89th minute as Harry Olivant had a go from the edge of the box but Lewis King was there to deny the strike and keep his clean sheet.

The referee signified the end of the match and we had confirmed our spot in this season’s play-offs.

Our final game of the season is against AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday April 26, we look forward to seeing you all there!

We could not have done it without your support throughout the campaign.

YOU BLUES!

Match report: Sam Hargrave
Match Photos: Sam Hargrave, Dan Bishop