Spalding United 2
Corby Town 1
Spalding United’s eye-catching start to the new Evo-Stik NPL Division One South season continued with a terrific 2-1 win over Corby Town on Tuesday night.
The Tulips took a half-time lead when Gary King (39) fired home at the near post following a saved Cenk Acar penalty, before Matt Varley buried 47th-minute header to double the advantage early in the second half at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
Ollie Brown-Hill’s deflected free-kick (77) set-up a grand-stand finish, with the same player forcing a sensational stoppage-time save from Michael Duggan.
Spalding held on to secure a deserved victory, with boss Chris Rawlinson admitting his team are already exceeding expectations.
Having beaten a fellow promotion hopeful in Stocksbridge Park Steels on Saturday, seeing off the much-fancied Steelmen gives the Tulips a maximum haul of six points from two very tough games.
“I would have been happy with two points from the first two games, to be honest,” said the Tullips chief. “Especially as we had a pretty bad pre-season, but I always maintained that I believe in this lot.
“But it’s only two games. There are a lot of very pleasing things that we can work on and, on the whole, I feel we’ll be OK this year.
“It was a battling performance that very much played out like a game from last season. But now it’s time for some of the players to step out of the shadows of the so-called star players over the past few seasons.
“I though Neal Spafford was out of this world, while Paul Walker, Matt Varley and Ellis Humble were absolutely superb too.
“When you’ve got that kind of solid base and you’ve got Cenk’s ability to run in behind, things look great. Cenk’s got the best feet in the league, for me, and if we use him the right way he’ll put teams on the back foot.
“To be fair to Corby, if they’d come here and we’d let them play, they’d have battered us. We love a battle and for 75 minutes we were good value for the win. We probably could have got a third, but overall it’s a very pleasing result.”
The first half was an incredibly tight and scrappy affair, with neither side seizing command.
Corby crafted the first genuine opening when ex-Tulip Kern Miller directed a free header from a corner straight into the safe hands of Michael Duggan.
At the other end, the pace of Acar was causing the Steelmen all sorts of trouble. From one of his many mazy runs Nathan Whitehead lashed a long-ranger off target from distance.
Lee Beeson then forced veteran keeper Paul Bastock into a smart save direct from a free-kick, before Spalding were awarded a penalty for handball by Phil Trainer.
Acar’s low effort was well-saved by Bastock, but he was unable to keep out the rebound from King.
It was 2-0 just two minutes into the second period, with Varley rising highest at the back post to bury a brilliant Beeson corner.
Duggan was called into action to acrobatically tip a Jack McGovern header over, but Corby struggled to fashion openings all night.
They did, however, get a big slice of luck when Brown-Hill’s free-kick took a huge deflection off the wall and left Duggan rooted to the spot to make the last ten minutes interesting.
Young guns Jonny Lockie and Jack Fixter both fired efforts wide as Spalding looked for a clincher, but they were left thankful for a sensational stop from Duggan five minutes into added time as he somehow kept out Hill-Brown’s low piledriver.
Spalding now turn their attentions to what Rawlinson is calling a “great” FA Cup derby at Wisbech Town on Saturday (3pm).
The boss added: “It’ll be a ding-dong local derby. There’s lots of ex-Tulips in their team and players that are friends with our lads.
“I say bring it on, it’s a huge game for the club. The club doesn’t fund itself, it relies on a lot of volunteers who work very hard.
“A good run in the FA Cup, even a round or two, makes a massive financial difference.”
Tulips: Duggan, Walker, Jackson, Varley, Spafford, Humble, Beeson, Whitehead, King (Lockie 72), Acar (Harris 83), McGhee (Fixter 67).
Attendance: 251
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Evo-Stik NPL
Division One South: Bedworth United 0 Newcastle Town 0; Frickley Athletic 1 Cleethorpes Town 2; Gresley 1 Alvechurch 1; Leek Town 0 Belper Town 0; Sheffield FC 2 Loughborough Dynamo 2; Spalding United 2 Corby Town 1; Stamford 1 Carlton Town 0.
ChromaSport UCL
Premier Division: Cogenhoe United 4 Northampton ON Chenecks 0; Desborough Town 0 Leicester Nirvana 5; Kirby Muxloe 2 Oadby Town 0; St Andrews 1 Daventry Town 1; Wellingborough Town 3 Northampton Sileby Rangers 0; Wisbech Town 9 Sleaford Town 1; Yaxley 1 Deeping Rangers 3.
ChromaSport PDFL
Premier Division: Ketton 3 Langtoft United 0; Moulton Harrox 2 Leverington Sports 2; Peterborough Sports Res 2 Warboys Town 3; Sawtry 1 Netherton United 3.
