A late goal denied Spalding United the chance of climbing out of the relegation spots in the Southern League Premier Central Division on Saturday.
However, the 1-1 draw at Redditch United gave manager Jimmy Dean plenty of hope that his team had finally turned the corner in their efforts to avoid the drop.
Substitute Theo Hudson had put the Tulips ahead after 70 minutes on his debut after joining from King’s Lynn Town Academy. Unfortunately, a loose ball in the visitors’ penalty area after 81 minutes fell kindly for Johnny Johnston and he fired home the equaliser.
Dean said: “We can’t be despondent. I’m happy with the performance but on the balance of play probably disappointed not to have won the game.
“Their goal wasn’t bad defending just an unlucky bounce and that lad had played well all game. It was a great finish.
“We’ve got to get some points on the board. If we keep the simple, quick fixes we’ll take some beating. We’re getting better and better as we get used to playing with each other and are more assimilated.”
Both teams had their share of chances with Khanya Leshabela going close in the first half and Bart Cybulski having a strike ruled out for offside before the break.
The opening goal came when the ball was whipped across the home goal area and Hudson, who had swapped places with Cybulski only five minutes earlier, diverted it into the net.
The three points would have moved the Tulips above Harborough in the table and out of the bottom four but Johnston latched on to a loose ball to dash those hopes.
Dean said he was pleased with his team’s performance against the promotion-chasing hosts, especially after their previous outing, when they had crashed at home to Bishop’s Stortford.
“I don’t think you’d come away from a top four side and play much better,” he said. “They carried a threat all game with the style and way they played.
“Things that went wrong against Bishop’s were simple, quick fixes. We’ve put that right and looked good for it. All of our units were very good. The back four was a lot more solid, the midfield gave us great control and the front three were always a constant threat.
“We had to work a lot harder for our possession and were always a threat. We got a lot of good deliveries into the box but need to get our productivity up in the penalty area.”
One player who did manage to find the net was James Clifton, who moved to the opposite end of the table during the week. Clifton celebrated his 33rd birthday two days earlier by scoring the winner for promotion hopefuls Bedford Town in a 3-2 victory against Biggleswade Town at the start of a month’s loan period.
Tulips: Breeden, Brown, Fox, Moore, Walker (Cartwright), Lawlor, Sembie-Ferris, Freeman, Cybulski (Hudson), Leshabela, Nyahwema (Ngandu). Subs: Sherif, Tomlinson.
Attendance: 397.
