Tividale 1
Spalding United 1
Two questionable decisions from the officials denied Spalding United all three points at Evo-Stik NPL Division One South basement boys Tividale on Saturday as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.
All looked to be going to plan for the play-off hunting Tulips when striker Jamie Graham (10) gave them an early lead, but it was to be a day of frustration for Marcus Ebdon’s charges.
Firstly, Paul Walker was harshly penalised for an innocuous challenge on Chris Raybone to concede a penalty which Chris Sterling confidently converted to level the score on 34 minutes.
Then, in the later stages of the game, Dan Banister ran through the home defence to pick up Graham’s deflected free kick and beat goalkeeper Tom Turner with a clinical finish – only to be denied by the raised flag of a linesman.
With Tividale well adrift at the bottom and without a league win since September, Spalding boss Ebdon admitted that he was disappointed not to grab all three points.
“It’s very much two points dropped for us,” said the former Peterborough United professional. “The most annoying thing was that we had a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside.
“We also had so many chances to win the game, but just couldn’t put the ball in the net.
“The penalty we gave away was very soft, but poor on our part. It was a rubbish goal to concede and cost us dear.
“I’m not saying we played all that well, but we did enough to come home with a victory.”
There is still a way to go yet to the end of the campaign – but this game had all of the hallmarks of a typical end of season affair on a “sticky” Beeches pitch which had been deemed unplayable in recent weeks.
The Tulips had got off to a cracking start with a goal after just ten minutes. Walker and Banister interchanged passes on the right and, when the ball was whipped into the area, Graham side-stepped a defender to shoot into a top corner, giving Turner no chance.
An almost identical break a few minutes later ended with Tom Waumsley’s effort dipping just over the crossbar as Spalding pushed to extend their advantage.
Tividale, despite their lowly league position, battled with great determination and created chances of their own, but were thankful to goalkeeper and skipper Turner on 28 minutes when he tipped a good shot by Waumsley over the bar.
From the resulting corner kick Graham saw his close range effort blocked on the line as the Tulips began to grow a little frustrated.
Then came the controversial penalty leveller, with Sterling outwitting keeper Michael Duggan with a confident penalty kick ten minutes before the break.
Tividale, sensing a first win in 20 games, were out of the blocks like a race horse for the start of the second period and forced a goalline block by Ellis Humble.
Within minutes Raybone made a dash down the right wing and sent over a defence-splitting cross which Shaquille Whittingham just failed to make contact with.
For the Tulips, the lively Banister had a good run down the middle of the park and shot inches wide of the target.
New signing James Tricks made his debut as a replacement for Waumsley on 63 minutes – and quickly made his mark with a stinging close-range blockbuster.
A couple of good headed attempts from Tricks followed – and then from a corner his effort rebounded off a post in a packed goal area.
Tividale continued to make life difficult for the Tulips with some committed play, but the scoreline remained level at the end following Banister’s late disallowed effort.
Tulips: Duggan, Walker, Jackson, Humble, Stainfield, Murphy, Banister, Lee (Sanders 62), Waumsley (Tricks 63), Graham, Lawlor. Not used: Hussey.
Attendance: 67
