Loughborough Dynamo 1 Spalding United 0
Spalding United may have lost their 100 per cent league record at Loughborough Dynamo on Tuesday night – but boss Lewis Thorogood was full of praise for his side.
A deflected 82-minute winner from Karl Demidh gave hosts Dynamo all three points in a tight Pitching In NPL South East Division clash at the ADT Stadium, ending the Tulips previously perfect start to the season.
Spalding had won their first two games without conceding a goal, but Demidh’s strike, which deflected slightly off Jan Yeomans and past Michael Duggan, sees them slip from first to third in the early standings.
The Tulips had the better of the first half and rattled the bar through Joel Brownhill from distance, while Cameron Johnson fired wide when through on goal and Spencer Weir-Daley forced a smart save from the keeper.
Loughborough could have gone ahead early in the second period, only for Tristan Matthews to curl an effort off the bar.
Johnson forced a save at the other end, but Dynamo fired a warning shot 20 minutes from time when Duggan superbly kept out Lloyd’s bullet header.
The clincher followed eight minutes from time when Demidh’s curling effort from the edge of the box clipped Yeomans and found the corner.
Despite the defeat, Tulips boss Thorogood remained very positive.
“I really can’t grumble with the performance,” said the Tulps chief. “We gave 110 per cent, the lads did absolutely everything right.
“The work-rate was the best it has been all season, they really couldn’t have done much more.
“We had the best of the first half and had chances to put the game to bed; most notably when Joel Brownhill hit the bar and Cameron Johnson went through one on one.
“But it wasn’t to be and one small mistake cost us a draw, which would have been the very least we deserved given the performance.
“I’d have been happy with a draw and seven points out of nine would have been great, but we leave feeling a little hard done by.
“We’re setting ourselves high standards and we want to work harder than anybody else in this league.
“I’m confident that the personnel we have in that dressing room will bounce right back from this – and if we play like this on Saturday, we’ll be back to winning ways.
“It hurts now, but we won’t dwell on it for long. There was much about that performance that we can be proud of.”
Tulips: Duggan, Price, Warren, Floyd, Richards, Yeomans, Johnson, Goddard, Fenton (Shannon-Lewis 71), J Brownhill, Weir-Daley. Not used: Flitton, Liversedge, Holford, Smith.
Attendance: 120.
