Wisbech Town 2
Spalding United 2
A second-half equaliser from Cenk Acar earned Spalding United an Emirates FA Cup replay after an entertaining 2-2 draw at Wisbech Town in the Preliminary Round on Saturday.
Having taken a 16th-minute lead through Jack Fixter the Tulips suddenly found themselves chasing the game at the Elgoods Stadium as the hosts went ahead with two goals in a lively four minutes just before the interval from ex-Spalding duo Adam Millson and Michael Frew.
Acar’s 49th-minute leveller was sweetly-taken and, despite ChromaSport UCL Premier Division side Wisbech just shading the match, a draw was a fair result.
The Tulips were without inspirational skipper Adam and also lost midfield powerhouse Nathan Whitehead with a nagging ankle injury.
Conor Higginson, just back following a leg injury, hobbled off after 42 minutes too.
Though denied the services of key players, there was no lack of effort or determination from Chris Rawlinson’s charges, although they were relieved to see a soaring header by former Tulip Jamie
Stevens following a free-kick drift inches wide of the target.
Minutes later at the other end, keeper Sam Vince (another former Tulip in the home team) was forced into a telling save from Acar who had dashed through to accept a neat flick on by Gary King.
The 16th minute saw Acar impeded by Stevens just outside the area.
The resulting free-kick was driven into the area and former Lincoln City scholar Fixter got the firmest contact to force the ball over the line.
However, Wisbech’s left-back Jordan Yong was beginning to make his mark on the game with some telling runs and intelligent passes of the ball.
It was the dangerous Yong who created the opportunity for Millson to score the equalising goal with a close range strike on 37 minutes.
Billy Smith was near to increasing the lead before Frew, although looking suspiciously offside, punished some loose defending to drill the ball past Michael Duggan.
However, the home defence faced an early second-half barrage by the Tulips. Their defence failed to deal effectively with a Lee Beeson free-kick and Acar nipped nonchalantly through to beat Vince from ten yards to level the scores.
The second period was, as the first, hard and fast and fairly evenly contested with scoring chances at either end.
The stand-out moments saw Duggan save well from Josh Ford, while Matt Varley twice went close for the Tulips.
The pair squared off again on Tuesday night (see page 39) for the right to visit either Kempston Rovers or Newport Pagnell in the next round.
Tulips: Duggan, Fixter, Walker, Varley, Humble, Spafford, McGhee (Lockie 72), Beeson, King, Acar, Higginson (Harris 42). Not used: Smith.
Attendance: 262
