Spalding United 1
Newcastle Town 1
A needless act of retaliation by midfielder Nathan Whitehead to a very minor foul cost Spalding United dearly in this Evo-Stik NPL First Division South fixture at the Sir Halley Stewart Field on Saturday.
Whitehead’s undisciplined arm flailing reaction on a Newcastle Town player resulted him being shown a straight red card by referee Matthew Smith – who stood no more than four feet away from the incident – and came only two minutes from the interval and less than a minute after the Tulips had taken the lead.
So, instead of having a full complement of players on the field against a team who are level on points but behind Spalding on goal difference in third position, the home side had to work hard in defence to not only to hold on to their slender lead, which came from a penalty neatly converted by Cenk Acar, but to make certain they did not miss out on at least a valuable league point.
The pressure finally told when, in the 73rd minute, Newcastle substitute Kyle Diskin superbly converted a free kick, just inches outside the penalty area.
Tulips boss Dave Frecklington said: “It was a fantastic battling performance today playing 50 minutes with ten men. However we’ve got to stop killing ourselves by giving away soft goals.
“Nathan was absolutely selfish. He didn’t think of the team or anybody else – it was a moment of crazy madness.
“He’s been playing very well, but should know I won’t tolerate that from anyone. He’ll be fined and will miss three games, so his stupidity will hit him in the pocket.”
Facing a fierce wind blowing straight down the pitch in the first half, the Tulips were subjected to early pressure and conceded a number of corner kicks, while Newcastle forced a couple of good blocks by keeper Michael Duggan.
But it was the home team who went closest to scoring on ten minutes – Jack Wightwick getting onto the end of Acar’s cross, only to be denied by the woodwork.
The strong wind was posing problems for both teams but play constantly switched from end to end.
Mid-way through the opening half one of Matt Varley’s trademark long throws found the head of skipper Nathan Stainfield, but also the hands of goalkeeper Aaron Dillon who plucked the ball from under the bar.
Shortly after a neat passing sequence by the Tulips saw the lively Wightwick again denied by Dillon.
The deadlock was broken in the 43rd minute when Bradley Wells was upended in the area and Acar stepped up to convert the resulting penalty via the post.
With Whitehead off, the early second half play again saw Wells unceremoniously chopped down – this time by keeper Dillon 20 yards out – but the free kick came to nothing.
GH Security Systems man-of-the-match Jordan Lemon then went on a super solo run from deep into the home half before finally being stopped as he entered the Newcastle penalty area.
The visitors, however, were still subjecting the overworked home defence relentlessly and they levelled the scores on 73 minutes.
Sam Downey conceded a free kick just inches outside the Tulips 18-yard area and Newcastle substitute Diskin stepped up to give Duggan no chance with a superb strike.
The Tulips fought back and Wells and Stainfield were near to restoring the home lead, but the scoreline remained at 1-1, leaving the two teams to battle again for supremacy this coming weekend when they meet at the Lyme Valley Stadium in a re-scheduled fixture (see page 39).
Tulips: Duggan, Lemon, Walker, Varley, Stainfield, Gatter, Higginson (Downey 45), Whitehead, Wells, Wightwick (Hamilton 60), Acar. Not used: Griffiths, Field, Wright.
GH Security Systems MOTM (presented by Peter Bailey): Jordan Lemon.
Attendance: 116
