In Lincolnshire non-league action, Grantham Town began their league campaign with a hard-earned point on the road, while Boston Town marked their first fixture at their new level with an impressive away victory.
Grantham were looking to respond after their FA Cup disappointment at the weekend, but faced a difficult opening assignment at Coventry City United. Their side included striker Dylan Reason, who has joined the Gingerbreads on a month’s loan from Ilkeston Town.
The opening stages were evenly contested, with both teams creating opportunities, although Coventry gradually began to take control as the first half developed. Their pressure eventually brought the opening goal, and they went into the interval with a 1-0 advantage.
Grantham responded well after the break and began to spend far more time attacking the Coventry goal. Their improvement was rewarded after 55 minutes when Lee Shaw found the net to level the scores and give the visitors something to build on.
Coventry thought they had restored their advantage later in the half, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside. The contest became increasingly physical as the game entered its closing stages, with a number of strong challenges going in and the Grantham goalkeeper requiring treatment.
Neither side could find a winner, meaning the Gingerbreads returned home with a 1-1 draw and their first point of the new league season.
Full-Time: Corby Town 1-3 Boston Town. pic.twitter.com/xnZaFkv4ia
— Boston Town FC (@bostontownfc) August 12, 2026
Boston Town, meanwhile, could hardly have asked for a better start as they travelled to Corby Town for their first fixture at this level.
Boston dominated much of the opening 35 minutes, barely allowing their hosts to settle into the contest, and they were rewarded after only nine minutes when Fraser Bayliss opened the scoring. The visitors created enough opportunities to have established a much more comfortable advantage before half-time, although Corby began to improve during the final ten minutes of the opening period.
Corby carried that momentum into the second half and put the Boston defence under considerably more pressure, but the visitors remained organised and resisted everything their hosts could throw at them. Their ability to defend that spell before breaking quickly at the other end ultimately proved decisive.
Harry Limb doubled the advantage after 78 minutes following an excellent counter-attacking move, and just four minutes later Matthew Cotton finished another breakaway to make it 3-0 and secure all three points.
Boston’s manager was understandably pleased with the performance afterwards, while also stressing that there are still at least 41 matches to come and that his players will need to maintain the standards shown at Corby. Even with that note of caution, it was an excellent opening result and an encouraging introduction to life at their new level.
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