Brigg Town were easily the better side creating many chances. However, not taking any of them and conceding from a set play proved costly.
The Zebras made a promising start with Josh Fraiwald forcing Jon Kennedy into a great save before Joe Pugh fired inches wide in the opening stages.
Brigg suffered an early blow with skipper Stephen McCarron limping off injured with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
After the match restarted Fraiwald was denied by another smart stop from Kennedy and Pugh came close again.
Towards the end of the half, penalty appeals were turned down when McCarron’s replacement Owen Vincent went down in the box under a challenge.
The Zebras picked up where they left off in the second half with Pugh’s close range effort being well kept out by Kennedy.
Retford’s stopper, who was having a fabulous game, then tipped a shot from Pugh onto the crossbar as Brigg continued to pile on the pressure.
Afterwards, Retford scored very much against the run of play through Alex Boyd, who headed home from a corner.
Minutes later Conner Harman’s powerful strike seemed destined for the back of the net, but Reuben Brewin-Hawkins did brilliantly to block it on the goal line.
Towards the end, Richardson’s bullet header was clawed onto the bar by Kennedy at full stretch. The goalkeeper did extremely well not to let any goals in.
Unfortunately, the Zebras can no longer reach this year’s play-offs. Nobody can fault Brigg’s effort though – the whole club gave everything on and off the pitch for the best part of a year.
Hopefully, the season’s last two fixtures will go to plan before all the hard work starts again this summer.