Grantham Town lose to Stamford on penalties in South Kesteven Cup semi-final

The second semi-final of the South Kesteven Charity Cup between Grantham Town and Stamford AFC produced a close encounter on Tuesday night.

An excellent turnout of 305 fans watched an entertaining game between the two old foes.

The Gingerbreads took a deserved lead into half time, thanks to a dogged performance and a well-taken goal by Greg Smith.

After the break, Stamford really got their act together and put Grantham under a lot of pressure.

The Daniels equalised early in the second half with a well-struck goal from former Gingerbread Lee Shaw.

Stamford continued to pressure, looking for a winner and hitting Grantham’s woodwork three times, but to no avail.

The game was then decided on penalties.

Unfortunately, Grantham missed two of their penalties, which meant that Stamford’s well-taken efforts took them through to the final, winning 4-2 on penalties.

Grantham Town, to their credit, preformed exceptionally well in this hard fought contest against a higher league tier opponent.

This year’s local charities are the Robert Horrell Macmillan Centre, Stamford; Grantham Disabled Children’s Society; Grantham Autistic Information Network (GAIN); Rainbow Stars of Sleaford.

The final matches in the South Kesteven Charity Cup will take place on Saturday.

Third and fourth places will be decided between Harrowby United and Grantham Town at Dickens Road on Saturday, kick-off 12.30pm.

The final will kick off at 3.30pm on Saturday when Stamford will take on Sleaford Town at Eslaforde Park, Boston Road, Sleaford NG34 9GH.