Spalding United 2 Daventry Town 1
Spalding United slipped to their second defeat on the spin as they went down 2-1 at lowly Daventry Town on Saturday.
The Tulips were surprisingly beaten against the Pitching In NPL Midlands Division strugglers – despite a first goal in blue for new striker Dylan Edge.
Brett Whaley’s side, who handed a start to new signing Archie Jones, found themselves 1-0 down at half time thanks to Joel Nketia’s (30) strike at Elderstubbs.
Daventry soon doubled their lead through Jeff Woodward (49) early in the second half, but Edge struck back four minutes later to keep Spalding in the hunt.
But, despite Adam Confue seeing red for the hosts five minutes from time, the Tulips couldn’t find a leveller and slip to 12th in the standings.
A disappointed Whaley said: “It wasn’t a good result – and the performance wasn’t up to scratch, either.
“This was the fourth game I’ve had as manager and all of them have been tight.
“But, from what I’ve seen, our mentality hasn’t been right and it keeps on costing us points.
“I keep saying it, but we’re just not controlling games at the moment.
“We’ve got some very talented individual players here, but when games get tough we lack composure and fight.
“There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t be putting in as much effort as our opponents.
“As we know, in this league you’ll get punished by any side if they outwork you.
“This was another game against a side lower in the table – and if you turn up and just expect things to happen, you’re going to lose.
“Daventry deserved their win and we have to go away and think about how we can improve.
“There were positives; I thought Archie did well on his debut, but he’ll need time to get match fit.
“I was also pleased to see Dylan get his first goal.
“But it was a disappointing day for us overall.”
Tulips: Duggan, Price, Ward (Koroma 70), Bucci, Stainfield, Cartwright, Jones, Broccoli, Edge, Macleod (Seymour-Shove 74), Starkie. Not used: Stainsby, Floyd, Adams.
Attendance: 127.
