Spalding United held their nerve against the Southern League Premier Central Division’s in-form team to get their bank holiday weekend off to a good start.
Despite their lowly position in the standings, Stourbridge went into Good Friday’s match in the back of just one defeat in eight games.
However, after conceding the early lead, the Tulips ensured that run would not be extended thanks to a solid comeback.
The visitors went ahead after 15 minutes when Spalding lost the ball in midfield and Charlie Pavey took his time on the edge of area to pick his spot before firing in off a post.
That lead only last three minutes though before Alfie Bendle’s free-kick was headed in by Lewis White.
It looked as if honours would finish even until the Tulips stepped up the pace in the closing stages.
After 83 minutes captain Liam Moore’s cross was flicked on by Bart Cybulski at the near post for fellow substitute Ben Fowkes to stab home.
It was 3-1 a minute into stoppage time when a flowing move ended with Fowkes sending the ball across the face of goal for the unmarked Josh Taroni to tap in, to open his scoring account after also coming on from the bench.
Manager Jimmy Dean was satisfied with the result after overcoming both tricky opponents and a testing wind.
“I think over the last 16 games they had won eight, drawn five and lost three, which is play-off form,” he said of the visitors. “It’s not too far from our own form and it was a really difficult game. We needed a good performance and it was important not to lose.
“We competed well and stayed among it, so to speak, in the first half.
“We wanted to be a little bit cuter with the ball at times and settle a little bit, move the ball a little bit quicker, challenge the player a little bit more and I thought we deserved to win in the end.
“We handled tricky conditions, the wind, and I thought the bench were superb.
“When new players come in, it’s not always easy to hit the ground running. When four or five players come in, it’s a little bit more difficult because they’re all players who have come in to play.
“The second and third goals really showed that things are hitting home now with the new boys that have come on.”
Spalding’s title challenge looks to have petered out but Dean is positive that blip is now behind them.
“I think we’ve had our wobble,” he said. “We lost two, drew one and lost one in four but that’s six now, where we’ve won three, drawn one and lost two.
“It’s still good, it’s not terrible. We just need to use that now.”
Tulips (v Stourbridge): Wilks, White, Olopade, Moore, Fox, Bendle, Sembie-Ferris (Pugh 65), McCammon (Taroni 88), Akinba (Cybulski 61), Sani (Thompson 84), Ceesay (Fowkes 52).
Attendance: 610.
Two goals just after the half-hour mark were enough to make it a maximum six-point Easter haul for Spalding United.
However, they had to work hard to overcome a determined home side, who are in the thick of the Southern League Premier Central relegation battle.
Ben Fowkes put the visitors ahead after 32 minutes and two minutes later Yusifu Ceesay doubled the advantage.
Manager Jimmy Dean admitted he had been impressed by the way the hosts had started the game and said: “Barwell came out like they were fighting for their lives.
“For the first ten to 15 minutes they put it on us and, surprisingly we weren’t expecting it. But I think after that we got a little bit of control and scored a great first goal.
“It was back to front and finished superbly. The second was real clever from Alfie (Bendle) and Ceesay with another great little finish.
“After that, I think we had good control of the game. We found our feet and kind of dominated from then on.”
Harborough Town look nailed on to finish the season top of the table to claim the only automatic promotion place to National League North, with Spalding on target to finish second and claim home advantage in the
play-offs for the second place at the higher level.
However, Dean was keen to say his team’s remaining three regular-season fixtures would not be a case of going through the motions.
“We could still be caught and we could also still catch Harborough, so the games are far from dead rubber.
“A side could lose the next three games and win the two in the play-offs and they’re promoted. We want a little bit of momentum,” he said.
“It’s what we want. We’ve got three really hard games coming up – Stratford, Leiston and Worcester. To be honest, I much prefer playing good sides, hard sides, going into the play-offs.”
Tulips (v Barwell): Wilks, Fox, Olopade (Taroni 64), Moore, Johnson, Bendle (McCammon 71), Fowkes (Sani 88), Thompson, Cybulski (Akinba 79), Pugh, Ceesay (Sembie-Ferris 79).
Attendance: 247.
Pictures by Adrian Smith.
