Report: Anstey Town (A) Friendly - Nuneaton Griff

Nuneaton Griff Draw with Anstey Town in Entertaining Pre-Season Clash

Wednesday 22nd July 2026

Nuneaton Griff's pre-season continued with a 2-2 draw away at newly-promoted Step 6 side Anstey Town on Wednesday 22nd July, in what proved an entertaining game of good football on both sides.

The first half finished goalless, with chances at both ends on a good surface at the Anstey Nomads ground.

Keaton Blackbird had the ball in the net for Griff but was ruled offside.

Toby Bartram made an instant impact after coming on at the break, scoring from a tight angle as the Anstey keeper fumbled his shot over the line.

Anstey responded well, hitting the woodwork before their pacey number 9 broke down the left to level the score.

Griff were then caught in possession and punished for poor decision making as Anstey edged in front, before Bartram struck again late on to complete his brace and make it 2-2, a scoreline that was a fair reflection of the game.

Manager's Reaction

Speaking after the game, First Team Manager Wayne Hadley said:

"A good friendly, the football was good from both teams. It was nice to get Ash Gray in for his first game of pre-season, his voice alone and experience was a massive difference from Saturday."

"Some good performances on the night, the most pleasing thing for me was the gel and movement off the ball, we looked lively and a threat all evening."

"Obviously late on I am making a number of changes, playing players out of position to get minutes, which culminated possibly in us conceding, but I think a draw was about fair."

"It's hard to pick names out as so many good performances, Louis John orchestrating everything from deep, with the movement of Simon Short, Keaton Blackbird, Toby Bartram, Clay Powell, and Luke Shilton pleasing on the eye, and the hold up play from Ruben Wilson and Mitch Piggon was very good."

"All in all a good night's work and good minutes in the tank for the 16 man squad. We move on to Kirby Muxloe this Saturday."

Looking Ahead

Griff edge closer towards the end of their pre-season schedule, with a weekend double-header seeing the 2nd Team and 1st Team both take on two sides from Kirby Muxloe, the first match kicking off at 1pm and the second match following after at 3pm.