An incredible match at the Sir Halley Stewart Field on Saturday saw ten-man Spalding regain top spot in the Southern League Premier Central Division.
It came after they hit back from 2-0 down against Halesowen Town to win 3-2, with substitutes scoring all three goals.
Their stay at the pinnacle might have been short-lived, due to Harborough overtaking them again on Tuesday, but it left manager Jimmy Dean convinced his team have everything it takes to gain promotion.
“What Jack (Roberts) and Mane (Sani) pulled off was like the fuse was lit,” he said. “That’s the kind of belief we want in the ground. We had 10 men, but it felt like it was inevitable that we were going to get back in.
“I’ve made the guys a promise this year. We’ll give it everything and we’ll keep fighting as long as we can.”
Dean acknowledged the destiny of the league title is out of their hands, due to Harborough having more points left to play for but he said: “I’ve not really talked about Harborough but I think it’s obvious where we’re at now.
We need to win our games. If we don’t, we have to try and secure the play-offs at home.
“Harborough have dropped a few points recently that they weren’t dropping before and they’ve got some hard games coming up.
“We’ve got equally hard games. All we can do is control our controllables and that starts with St Ives next week. It’s out of our hands, but it’s a good, nice feeling after that win.”
The Tulips went back to the top on goal difference after Harborough were held to a 1-1 draw by third-placed Real Bedford, but the Leicestershire side bounced back into pole position on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory at Bromsgrove Sporting.
Spalding made a strong start against Halesowen but Tom Pugh’s second minute strike, when he got on the end of Yusifu Ceesay’s cross, was ruled out for offside.
Bart Cybulski and Ceesay also went close before the visitors went ahead eight minutes before the break when Jason Cowley sent goalkeeper Dan Wilks the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Ceesay was dismissed after 53 minutes when he picked up two yellow cards within five minutes and Dean said:
“The game was turned on its head really and from my viewpoint, I think they were both yellows.”
He made a triple substitution soon after with Josh McCammon, Roberts and Sani coming on for Ben Fowkes, Alfie Bendle and Pugh. However, things looked grim when Ben Cassidy was given time and space to deliver a quick one-two on the edge of the area before firing past Wilks to make it 2-0.
“I thought the game was going away from us,” admitted Dean. “But the three subs and the boys on the pitch had different ideas and that’s probably my favourite comeback of the season.”
The deficit was halved after 69 minutes when Jack Roberts’ surging run ended with him pulling the ball back for Sani to score.
It was 2-2 after 80 minutes when Roberts received the ball on the wing and ran into the area before smashing home inside the goalkeeper’s near post.
The comeback was completed five minutes later when a foul on captain Liam Moore gave Roberts the chance to net his 22nd goal of the season with a successfully struck spot kick.
“If we go on to do anything this season, whether it’s through the play-offs or whether it’s winning the league, you look at moments like that,” said Dean.
“To go 2-0 down and to have a man sent off, I think a lot of the fans were walking out, but we hit a switch and we got back into the game and ended up winning it.
“We need to turn up and turn that screw from minute one every week. We do it most weeks and we win games but the second we don’t, we look at average size.
“The boys were resolute, vigilant and defended with their lives.”
Back in The Tulips line-up was Ashton Fox. The defender rejoined on a 28-day loan from National League North side Peterborough Sports after his previous spell ended at Christmas due to needing back surgery.
Tulips: Wilks, White, Olopade (Sembie-Ferris), Moore, Fox, Thompson, Fowkes (Roberts), Bendle (McCammon), Cybulski (Akinba), Pugh (Sani), Ceesay.
Attendance: 634.
