Two goals inside the final 25 minutes sealed the win for visitors Nuneaton Town at a misty Grange Park, that despite The Blues matching their opponents for the vast majority of the afternoon.

Long Eaton had the upper hand in the second half, before a sucker punch from Nuneaton, followed by a late penalty sealed the 3 points for the visitors, who sit third in NPL Midlands Division.

With this the closest home fixture to 11th November, we held our Remembrance event shortly before kick-off, with both teams and all spectators paying their respects as the Last Post was played.

Nuneaton kicked off proceedings at Grange Park, in what proved to be a largely uneventful first half.

Just 3 minutes in, O'Neill hit a long range effort which gave Sam Wilson some problems, as the ball dipped just in front of him and the ball bounced off his body and away to safety.

A couple of minutes later, Zoko was brought down on the edge of the area, but Bucci's effort was high and wide from the free-kick.

After 12 minutes, James Matthews took a knock to the head, which forced him off the field temporarily, then the centre half was booked after mis-timing a challenge on Sawyers. This free-kick did bring Wilson into action, but his save on this occasion was more straightforward.

There was another clash of heads, this time between Alex Marshall and Jacob Shilton, causing a lengthily delay in the game. The Nuneaton defender played on with a bandage around his head.

Neither side was able to gain the initiative, with Nuneaton looking slightly more dangerous, but The Blues looking more than solid.

James Taylor picked up a caution for a foul on former Blue Connor Pace, who left Grange Park, along with a number of players last month following the change in management.

Just as the half came to a close, O'Neill hit a low shot, which beat Wilson, before clipping the outside of the post and out for a goal-kick.

After almost 6 minutes of added-on-time, that O'Neill effort would be the closest either team got to opening the scoring. The Blues didn't really create many opportunities, but had competed well for the first 45 minutes.

Whilst perhaps, The Blues had looked to keep Nuneaton at bay in the first half, they came out much stronger after the break. 5 minutes in, after good work by Simmons and Finney, Simmons' dangerous cross was saved low down by Bajrami - perhaps the first save the Nuneaton keeper had to make, then 2 minutes later, Alex Marshall should have given Long Eaton the lead.

Again, after neat work down our left, Simmons laid a ball back across goal which fell nicely for Marshall. It looked a certain goal as the striker side-footed it towards the target from close range, but a combination of the goalkeeper and defender kept it out - but as the rebound came back to Marshall, this time he went for power, but his shot was wide of the target, and in-fact came back to Simmons, but his next cross was thwarted and Nuneaton survived.

Finney then had a shot which took a wicked deflection, with the keeper able to gather, then he delicately curled an effort just wide on 61 minutes, when he probably should have done better, as Long Eaton dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half.

During this time, Nuneaton had made no less than 4 substitutions in the second period, and the introduction of Terry Artem, who was the 4th change on 63 minutes, changed the course of the game.

Just 3 minutes after joining the action, he was involved in the opening goal, setting up skipper Josh Green to delivery a fantastic deep cross to the far post, with Luke Softley heading home, despite Sam Wilson's best efforts to keep it out.

Long Eaton had worked incredibly hard, but were once again in a familiar position of chasing the game.

The referee then had a mad few minutes, booking a number of players, with no signs of any malice or bad tackles. Bucci was booked after taking a free-kick too quickly, Marshall failed to retrieve his 10-yards quickly enough, and Hawkridge was carded when seemingly the player went down with no tackle made.

Artem then had a chance to double Nuneaton's lead, bringing an excellent stop from Wilson on 77 minutes, but the substitute didn't have to wait long to get his name on the scoresheet.

Artem was brought down by Bucci inside the area, The Blues' skipper just slightly mis-timing a slide tackle, and the attacker made no mistake from the spot, riffling high into the net past Wilson.

Long Eaton lost the spark they had at the beginning of the half, but still looked to press, Taylor had an effort blocked, whilst Finney continued to look dangerous, finding pockets of space.

The final minutes were played out with Long Eaton trying to claw a goal back, but weren't able to make that final telling pass or key contribution, and after almost 4 minutes of added-on-time the game came to a close, just as the mist was beginning to get significantly worse.

FULL TIME:
BLUES 0 NUNEATON 2