Jimmy Dean admitted he was left blind-sided by Spalding United’s defeat at Southern League Premier Division Central bottom side Hitchin Town on Saturday.
However, Tulips fans saw the light on Tuesday when the team bounced back in style thanks to birthday boy Bart Cybulski.
The former Polish u19 striker celebrated his 22nd birthday with a goal after just six minutes in a 3-0 win at Royston Town.
He also fired in the shot that was blocked but led to Jordan Nicholson slamming home the rebound to make it 2-0 after 32 minutes.
A fiery encounter saw Spalding’s Connor Brown and Kyle Barker sent off, alongside the hosts’ Eunis Lievins in the second half before Lamine Sherif completed the scoreline in stoppage time.
It came as a huge relief for the Tulips faithful and saw the team move two points clear of the drop zone.
Dean had seen his team appear to be deep in relegation trouble on Saturday when they went down 2-1 to Hitchin and he said: “I didn’t see it coming. I thought we’d made good progress in the last five/six fixtures with our performance levels.
“But that was back to how it was when I came in. We got beaten by the better side on the day, who wanted it a lot more than us and that raises serious questions.
“I know what we lacked today. The spine wasn’t good enough as it has been. There has been a lot of character and doggedness in the side, We know the spirit is there but it was lacking today.”
Spalding fell behind after 16 minutes but Cybulski restored parity only for the hosts to grab what proved to be the winner from the penalty spot just before half-time.
Dean is working hard to improve his options with two new signings in the squad.
Maniche Sani had been training at the club for several weeks and has now signed. The 24-year-old former Benfica youth player had been with Dean’s former club National League North Peterborough Sports.
Also arriving at the Sir Halley Stewart ground is Luther Munakandafa. He started at Nottingham Forest before switching to Notts County. Since then the 20-year-old winger has been on loan at Basford, Boston United, Gainsborough Trinity and Truro City.
Defender Josh Ezewele has left the Tulips to join league rivals Bromsgrove Sporting.
Tulips v Hitchin: Breeden, Brown, Walker, Sherif (Barker), Stainfield, Dawes, Nyahwema, Hilliard, Cybulski, Sani (Tomlinson), Winters (Munakandafa). Subs: Cartwright, Warburton.
Attendance: 719.
Tulips v Royston: Breeden, Brown, Walker, Dawes, Stainfield (Warburton), Cartwright, Sherif, Barker, Cybulski (Winters), Nicholson (Tomlinson), Hilliard. Subs: Sani, Nyahwema.
Attendance: 297.
