A festive four-point haul sent Spalding United into the New Year three points clear at the top of the Southern League Premier North table.
Second-placed Harborough Town do have three games in hand but the Tulips are a mighty 15 points clear in the play-off zone as they attempt to claim a place in next season’s National League North.
A thrilling 3-3 draw at home to fellow promotion chasers Real Bedford was followed by a 3-0 derby victory over Stamford in front of 1,300 spectators at the Sir Halley Stewart Field.
Manager Jimmy Dean said: “Talk of games in hand and points on the board don’t mean too much at this time but we’re right in there. We’ve got to batten down and keep this momentum going.”
The Tulips are unbeaten since November 8 and have lost only one of their last 16 league matches, with Harborough due in town a week on Saturday for an eagerly-anticipated encounter. Before that, Spalding welcome Barwell, this Saturday, 3pm as they finally catch up on their home fixtures, following the delayed start to the campaign.
A see-saw encounter against Real Bedford on the Saturday before Christmas left Dean admitting it had been a great game for the neutrals.
“They will have enjoyed that. It was two of the better sides in the division and it looked like that. We have great players with the ball and when we did things correctly the game favoured us. When we didn’t, they showed their quality.”
The Tulips had to work hard to hit back from behind twice and were left hanging on for a point at the end following the dismissal of Connor Johnson for a challenge on goalkeeper Craig King.
“A set piece was knocked down and the ball was there for him to touch it in to make it 4-3,” said Dean, who felt the red card was harsh and reflected on inconsistent refereeing, following an earlier unpunished challenge on Jack Roberts.
“We had 15 minutes to see the game out with ten men and we did it,” he added.
The visitors had taken a 32nd-minute lead when goalkeeper Dan Wilks fumbled a shot and Josh Allen nipped in to tap home the loose ball.
Yusifu Ceesay then headed down a cross for Bart Cybulski to fire in the equaliser a minute before the break.
It was 2-1 five minutes into the second half when a superb run from Roberts set up Alfie Bendle to slot the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs and into the net.
Poor defending at a corner allowed Drew Richardson’s near-post header to loop into the net and then a poor punch by Wilks allowed Ben Stevens to send a shot-cum-cross into the far corner of the net.
It was 3-3 with ten minutes to go with Ceesay displaying some superb work before feeding Cybulski, who finished with the outside of his right foot for his 16th goal of season.
Defender Ashton Fox joined Spalding on a one-month loan deal from National League North side Peterborough Sports and went straight into the line-up for last Saturday’s encounter with Stamford.
He was part of a hastily put-together defence as injuries and suspensions continued to bite deep.
Dean admitted: “I was aware that we’d thrown it together a little bit back there but I can’t give those five boys any bigger compliment than to say they were outstanding and restricted Stamford to just one chance, and that wasn’t their fault, that came from further up the pitch.”
Spalding wrapped up the points inside the opening 16 minutes with a quick-fire two-goal start.
After only five minutes, Ceesay cut in from the left and bent the ball superbly into the bottom corner of the net after a good break involving Dion Sembie-Ferris, Josh McCammon, Cybulski and Bendle.
Man of the match Curtis Thompson fired home from the edge of the area after a scramble and the points were sealed four minutes after the interval when Roberts crashed home from a tight angle, running in from the wing, for his 17th goal of season.
Dean was pleased with how his team performed under the pressure of a derby in front of a big crowd.
“They tried to put it on us and were aggressive but we adapted really quickly,” he said.
“They had a diamond in there and it took us time to work it out but we got the message on.
“They were aggressive and put it on us but we earned the right to win today and that was really important in a derby game,” added Dean after seeing the Tulips chalk up a second 3-0 win of the season over their county neighbours, following August’s success.
Tulips v Bedford: Wilks, Bendle (Lawlor), Olopade, Moore, Johnson, Thompson (Sani), Roberts (White), McCammon, Cybulski, Sembie-Ferris (Freeman), Ceesay. Sub: Dadge.
Attendance: 475.
Tulips v Stamford: Wilks, Sembie-Ferris, Olopade (Blythe), Fox, White, Thompson (Sani), Roberts (Freeman), Bendle (Lawlor), McCammon, Cybulski, Ceesay. Sub: Dadge.
Attendance: 1,300.
Pictures from the match against Real Bedworth, as captured by Adrian Smith.
