3 goals in the space of just 6 minutes either side of the halftime interval ensured our winless run continued, as we slipped to a disappointing defeat at Grantham on Bank-Holiday-Monday.

A late Evan Garnett consolation goal was not enough to divert away that The Blues were second best for much of the afternoon and the second half performance was lacklustre to say the least...

The Blues were forced into a couple of changes from the side which battled for 120 minutes against AFC Rushden & Diamonds in the FA Cup 6 days before. Goalscorer Luke Williamson was not available, whilst due to personal circumstances, Jahvan Davidson-Miller was only able to arrive to the ground shortly before kick-off, therefore Jamie Hanson and Connor Pace returned to the starting line-up, with Davidson-Miller joining Munn, Cole and the on-loan Nyakuhwa on the bench. Alex Howes was once again missing through injury.

Former Blues captain Andrew Wright was amongst the hosts ranks, taking his usual central midfield role.

Grantham got the game underway on a pleasant afternoon in Lincolnshire. Long Eaton were presented with an early opportunity after drawing a foul on the edge of the area. Callum Cocks, however, could only find the 'keepers hands, and Grantham were able to clear without any threat.

On 7 minutes, Shaw had the hosts first sight at goal - but his effort skewed well wide of Lewis King's goal.

Grantham then had another opportunity, following some poor Blues defending. A scramble in the box saw the ball ricochet to Roberts, who ballooned over when just 10 yards out facing the goal with a clear sight of goal in front of him.

Grantham continued to press, and Shaw had a half-chance on 17 minutes which was blocked by Jayden Cotterill, and out for a corner.

Midway through the first half, Long Eaton sprang into life, and created the games best opportunities to date. First, on 23 minutes Connor Pace, who's last Blues goals came against Grantham at the end of the 24/25 season, had a shot from just outside the area, which bobbled up, giving 'keeper Steggles problems, with which he could only guide it out for a corner.

From the resulting corner, however, Long Eaton were caught on the break and Lewis King had to save smartly from the lively winger Czerwak to keep us on terms.

Onto the next attack, a lovely Blues move involving Pace, Taylor and Atwal, finished with a delightful back-heal from Taylor, dummied by Pace, allowing Atwal to run onto the ball and drill a shot towards goal. With the keeper well-beaten, Atwal's nicely hit effort whistled just wide of the far post.

Long Eaton were not finished yet, and Pace connected to a cross from the left to guide a volley to the keepers right, but somehow Steggles was once more equal to it and the game somehow remained goalless.

Just before the half-hour mark, The Blues, playing in our change kit of red with black zig-zags, were guilty of another miss. This time Evan Garnett pounced on a rare error from Steggles from a corner, after the keeper parried into Garnett's path, but his rather scuffed effort struck the post and somehow went across the face of goal, missing everyone.

James Taylor then had a chance on 31 minutes, connecting from a glorious Eden cross, but his header was tame and comfortably grabbed by the relieved home stopper.

On 33 minutes, Grantham were forced into a change, with Roberts replaced by Langford. This change bought about a stoppage in play, with both teams taking on water, and the break seemed to galvanise the hosts, whilst Long Eaton completely lost their momentum.

5 minutes before the break, there was a clear warning of what was to come. More poor Blues defending saw the ball fall kindly to Reason close from goal, but he could only fire over, when a goal seemed certain.

On 44 minutes, the deadlock was broken. Czerwak found some space down the Grantham left, cut inside, then with acres of space unleashed a superb effort which curled into the top corner of King's goal. A great effort, but from a Long Eaton perspective, he had far too much time and space so close to our area.

With 3 minutes of time indicated to be added on, things got worse for The Blues. Reason beat the offside trap and managed to prod the ball beyond Lewis King and double their advantage.

A very sloppy end to what was otherwise a fairly even half. Grantham had had more chances and more of the play, but Long Eaton's spell of pressure could have seen them go 2 goals to the good, not the other way around!

A big second half was required, but Czerwak dealt us another hammer blow.

From the first attack of the half, a tame cross from the right appeared no real threat, but with no defenders going towards the ball, the unmarked Czerwak stooped lowdown to make it 3 and surely seal the game.

On 50 minutes, a break from Long Eaton, provided some respite, and Pace found Garnett who was through on goal, but the ball just ran away from the striker, and the keeper was able to gather.

Davidson-Miller replaced Jamie Hanson in the 51st minute in an attempt to claw us back into the game, however it was the hosts who should have had another. Reason clattered the crossbar with a rifled shot from just inside the box, with Long Eaton relieved to see the ball bounce away well clear of danger.

From here, Grantham managed the game to perfection. A series of substitutions kept them looking fresh and workmanlike, whilst Long Eaton looked a side low on confidence, and literally went through the motions for the majority of the second half.

The game became a rather dull spectacle.

The on-loan Nyakuhwa replaced Pace with 20 minutes to go, and he played down the right wing, and he did look lively for the remainder of the game.

With no other goal mouth action to report, there was to be 4 minutes of stoppage to be added, and in the first minute of those, Garnett did at least manage to haul us a consolation goal.

Taylor threaded an excellent ball through, and Garnett finished with ease into the far corner. There was time for 1 more chance after that Davidson-Miller firing across the face of goal, but just out of the reach of any Blues forward players.

That would be the end of the action on what was a hugely disappointing afternoon for Long Eaton, particularly as for a sustained spell in the first half, we created a number of excellent chances, but once more for the 6th time out of 7 games, we were unable to open the scoring, and were then facing the challenge of chasing the game...

Blues with plenty of work to do.

GRANTHAM TOWN 3 LONG EATON UNITED 1

Line-up: King (C) - Atwal, Eden, Bucci, Cotterill - Cocks, Pace (Nyakuhwa 70), Hanson (Davidson-Miller 51), Taylor, Durose - Garnett.
Subs not used; Cole, Munn
Goal; Garnett 90+1
Bookings; None
Attendance; 375