Spalding Men 1s 2
St Ives 1
A massive match at the foot of the Men’s East League Division One North table went in favour of the hosts.
St Ives opened the scoring in the second half but Stuart Cunnington’s perfectly placed drag flick saw Spalding equalise. Green cards in quick succession for Ethan Pearson, Cunnington and Jacob Baker put Spalding on the back foot but their defence proved solid.
Spalding grew back into the game and their domination paid off when, after a crash ball, a scrappy goal rolled into the net with Cunnington claiming the honours to complete a first win of the season.
Will Baker took the man of the match honours.
Pelicans 2s 3
Spalding Men 2s 2
An end-to-end Three North West encounter went in favour of the hosts despite a spirited performance from Spalding.
The King’s Lynn team went ahead from a short corner but Tim Maltby pounced on the baseline to work the ball round defenders concerned at conceding a short corner and slipped a shot into the net to level the scores.
Pelicans regained the lead going into half time but it was all square again when Olly Roy got a yard from a defender and hit a low strike past the goalkeeper.
The match was won in controversial fashion when Pelicans claimed a third goal from a short corner, which appeared to deflect off an attacker’s leg, leading to Spalding losing a player to a yellow card.
Kettering 2s 4
Spalding Men 3s 0
Spalding suffered a whole heap of bad luck as they conceded three first half goals at Kettering in Division Four North West.
Spalding showed more fight after the break and forced a few short corners but to no avail. Good defensive work from Paul Pearson, Marco Mendoza and man of the match Tom Eve closed out the hosts, who managed only one more goal.
Newmarket 1
Spalding Men 5s 1
A young Spalding fifth team included nine players aged 14 and under in their 13-man squad for the trip to Newmarket.
The hosts were similarly youthful and an entertaining match ended 1-1.
Spalding Ladies’ 1s 3
Cambridge South 2s 1
Spalding hit back from conceding an early goal to earn all the Women’s East League Division Two North West points.
Captain Charlotte Maplethorpe settled her team and, despite losing Sophie Wilson to a green card for a harsh tackle, the remaining ten players maintained possession. Player of the match Laura Graves struck from a short corner to make it 1-1 at the break.
A spectacular solo run led to an amazing second goal from Graves and they stayed ahead thanks to a stick save from Freya Lee, a goal line clearance from Evie Maltby and a fantastic track back from Karen Timby.
A short corner in the last minutes saw Timby complete the scoreline.
Spalding Ladies’ 2s 0
City of Peterborough 3s 4
A new formation failed to find the way to goal for the Seconds as they fell to defeat at home to Peterborough.
The visitors led 2-0 at half-time and added two more after the break.
Spalding Ladies’ 3s 4
Wisbech Town 3s 0
Spalding dominated their Division Four North West match but struggled to find the net thanks to some excellent goalkeeping.
However, the pressure finally told when Terri Robinson lifted the ball over the goalkeeper’s stick to earn a half-time lead.
The half-time talk by Michael Morris saw Spalding step up the pace and they scored three more times to complete their best result of the season.
