Loughborough Dynamo 3 Spalding United 2
Another poor first-half showing cost Spalding United dear on Saturday as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat at Loughborough Dynamo.
The two sides were level on points in the Pitching In NPL Midlands Division game at the Nanpantan Sports Ground – but it was Loughborough who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and led 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Curtis Burrows (pen 24) and Daniel Gordon (42).
However, a double from top scorer Jordan Macleod (50 and 67) hauled Spalding, who are still under the caretaker charge of Bruno Porfirio, level and set up a grandstand finish.
Then, moments after the Tulips felt they should have had a penalty when Stefan Broccoli was brought down in the box, Alex Steadman (79) netted the winner for Dynamo.
That leaves Spalding down in 12th place in the league, with the play-offs now 15 points away and looking a long way off as the festive period approaches.
For Porfirio, it was a simple case of the first half not being good enough – but he was also disappointed not to see a penalty awarded to his side.
“We just didn’t perform in the first half,” admitted the caretaker boss. “That really cost us dear.
“With eight players out and only one of our regular back four available, we needed to start better than that. The second half was much, much better.
“We had that quality we’ve come to expect and, once we got back to 2-2, I was thinking we’d go on and win quite comfortably.
“We really should have had a penalty before they scored the winner, too.
“The incident was exactly the same as the one that saw Loughborough awarded a penalty in the first half, so it’s obviously disappointing.
“I think, when you look back at the game, it’s clear to me that we would have won if we’d been at the level of performance we produced in the second half.
“They are now ahead of us, but it was also another example of us struggling to beat a side that aren’t flying at the top end of the table.
“Overall, the first half performance cost us the game.”
Even a draw would have represented a good result for the Tulips, who had two players missing due to COVID-19, four out injured and two suspended.
However, the defeat makes it two on the spin and they haven’t picked up three points since the memorable 2-1 win at Coleshill Town back on November 27, which now equates to a run of four winless matches.
Tulips: Duggan, Floyd (Opayinka 86), Bucci, Koroma, Stainfield, Baker, Starkie, Broccoli, Hinds, Macleod, Flitton (Olivant 56). Not used: Stainsby.
Attendance: 153.
