March Town 0
Spalding Men 4
Spalding stayed on the fringes of the East Men’s Division One North promotion race, despite missing some players and nursing injuries.
They made light work of that though, with a comfortable victory in the Fens.
Oscar Haunch made some early saves as the visitors rode the early storm and settled down.
A well-finished goal from William Baker gave Spalding the lead and they held on to it, despite a late challenge from Ethan Pearson seeing him receive a two-minute sit down.
Jacob Baker showed some individual brilliance to work his way through the D and March sticks to slip the ball past the goalkeeper with Baker on hand to make sure it crossed the line.
Further passages of superb attacking play saw Spalding create more chances and in the 62nd minute Pearson’s shot took a deflection off a defender’s foot to make it 3-0.
With two minutes left, Stuart Cunnington made a defence-splitting pass to send through James Grant who rifled home a reverse stick shot to complete an impressive away win.
Man of the match was Matthew Peach.
St Ives 2s 3
Spalding 2s 3
Glenn Richardson starred with a hat-trick as Spalding Seconds held Division 3NW promotion-chasing St Ives to a draw.
Spalding raced into an early 2-0 lead with St Ives unable to cope with Spalding’s new more attacking system.
Victory looked likely but then Spalding became the architects of their own issues as errors led to three goals for the home team and a half-time deficit.
Following a half-time
re-focus, Spalding exploded into the second half and a quick counter led to Richardson finding plenty of space to complete his hat-trick.
Spalding were reduced to nine men for the last two minutes but managed to hang on for a good point on the road.
Ethan Worrall earned the man of the match honours.
Spalding 3s 1
St Ives 3s 3
Tim Maltby gave Spalding an early lead in their Division 4NW encounter but they were unable to find any more and conceded a first-half equaliser with two more goals from the visitors following after the break.
Spalding 4s 4
Cambridge South 5s 3
A gritty and determined performance saw Spalding come back from behind in an entertaining Division 5NW game that had twists and turns throughout.
A good move saw Alex Myland square the ball for Andy Barlow to fire home at the near post to give the home side the advantage.
Spalding kept pressing and created more good opportunities but it was the visitors who scored from a well-worked short corner.
Spalding retook the lead just before the break with an inspired managerial substitution.
Myland was pushed up front for the last few minutes and the perfect through ball from Alistair Main saw him finish calmly.
Cambridge got themselves back on level terms soon after the break and then took the lead for the first time.
Goalkeeper Steve Thurlbourne made a series of good saves as Spalding struggled to get into top gear but they eventually regained a foothold and Ed Sly fired home from a short corner to make it 3-3.
Both sides kept testing each other with good hockey, however it was from another set-piece that Spalding sealed victory when Henry Gibbons fired home with a fierce shot.
All five u16s worked hard and contributing well. Lewis White picked up the player of the match award while James Frascella showed no nerves with an assured performance.
Wisbech 3s 0
Spalding Ladies 6
Spalding marched on at the top of East Women’s Division Three North West with a convincing victory to make it seven wins out of seven so far this season.
Spalding got off to a flying start with some fantastic hockey and went ahead in the second minute when Lily Hooker, who reacted brilliantly to slot home the rebound following a powerful penalty corner strike from Karen Timby on her return from injury,
The second goal came in the 26th minute when Laura Graves capitalised on a short-corner rebound.
Player of the match Ellie Holland was outstanding in the middle of the pitch and a third goal arrived two minutes into the second half with a fantastic team effort involving Amy Naylor and Hooker creating the opportunity for Graves to finish. In the 49th minute Graves completed her hat-trick, this time thanks to some excellent work from winger Calypso Priestley.
Goal no.5 was a moment of individual brilliance. Hooker produced a fantastic solo run before squeezing the ball inside the goalkeeper’s near post.
The scoring was completed by Amy Naylor, who was on hand to tap home from a short corner.
