Hard work from the groundstaff ensured Spalding United beat Storm Darragh and saw off visitors Barwell to move out of the Southern League Premier Central relegation zone.
However, manager Jimmy Dean admitted he had not been happy with the game being given the go-ahead.
The Sir Halley Stewart Field hosted the only one of the division’s games to beat the weather and Dean admitted: “I thought the club were mad trying to get the game on. But I was wrong and stand corrected.
“I knew it was going to be a real difficult surface to play on and the wind made it more difficult to move the ball but it all came good.”
Not that it all went the Tulips way. After losing their last two home matches, things looked bad when the visitors went ahead after only four minutes. The ball was allowed to ricochet around the area and Riley Moloney reacted first to stab it in.
Their lead did not last long though with Bart Cybulski rediscovering his shooting boots to equalise within five minutes.
Having gone four games without a goal, the tall Polish striker latched on to a loose ball after a surging run from full back Nathan Fox and slotted home his seventh goal since joining from King’s Lynn Town in September.
It was another former Linnet who grabbed what proved to be the winner when Fox fired home a free-kick from the edge of the box after a foul on Cybulski after 24 minutes.
Lamine Sherif rattled the Barwell crossbar from outside box before the break.
Spalding had to battle hard in the face of torrential rain and high winds in the second half but held out with man of the match captain Liam Moore solid at the heart of the back line.
Cybulski celebrated another goal, only for referee Matthew Friend to rule that the ball had not crossed the line.
“We were much the better side in every unit,” said Dean. “We didn’t make a sub until the 90th minute and to do that was testament to how well the boys did out there. We were so much in control.
“There was only one mistake and that cost us the first goal. It had three or four ricochets but to be fair we got one back the same.
“The 11 players out there all wanted to play for this football club and that was a real bonus for me. They really looked like a team.”
Dean was particularly pleased with the performance of beanpole striker Cybulski.
“Bart was outstanding and we are very lucky to have him,” said Dean. “His body is acclimatising to going from full-time to part-time and he’s bound to have some bad days but he’s had a lot more good days since he came into the club. He was outstanding from minute one to 90 today.”
Dean’s focus is now on climbing the table to remove any relegation fears.
“Hopefully we won’t drop back into the bottom four again but no need to worry at this stage. If we’re down here in February, well then, yeah.
“We win two and we’re in mid-table, lose a couple and we’re back in the relegation ones so we just need calm heads. Look at the form, look at the performance levels to see our true position.
“We scored two today but should have had a lot more, we were so dominant.”
Although the Tulips are only two points above the drop zones, they are now also only seven points adrift of the play-off picture, so tight is the table.
Tulips: Breeden, Brown, Fox, Moore, Cartwright, Lawlor, Sembie-Ferris, Sherif, Cybulski, Freeman, Nyahwema (Ngandu). Subs: Hudson, Hilliard, Tomlinson, Leshabela.
Attendance: 230.
