Revenge proved sweet for Spalding United as they bounced back from Saturday’s FA Trophy exit with a 2-0 victory over Grantham Town in the Lincolnshire FA Senior Cup on Tuesday.
That avenged last season’s 1-0 defeat in the final and came courtesy of a quickfire double from Lewis Hilliard.
He put the Tulips ahead after 27 minutes and it was 2-0 within a minute when he struck again.
Manager Elliot Sandy seemed to be enjoying a rare start and came close to scoring a third when his effort was grabbed on the line by Curtis Hall and he was then denied by a one-on-one fingertip save by the goalkeeper on the stroke of half-time.
The Tulips remained in full control and never looked troubled as they coasted through the second half to earn a home tie against Grimsby Town in the next round.
Dreams of a day out at Wembley had crumbled on Saturday when Spalding slipped to a penalty shoot-out defeat at Sheffield FC.
They held the world’s oldest club to a 1-1 draw but went down 4-3 in the spot-kick decider.
Manager Sandy said: “It was obviously disappointing to lose. Sheffield really came out and put us under pressure but we knew exactly what they were going to do and had worked on it in training so I felt we dealt with it well.
“We got the goal to lead 1-0 at half-time and then missed two or three good chances to go further ahead.
“They are a real battling side and kept putting us under pressure without really making our keeper make any saves.
“Neither team really created anything. Penalties are a lottery and fair play to them, they won it today.”
Jordan Graham earned Spalding the half-time lead but Alfie Smith squared things eight minutes into the second half.
No more goals meant the tie went to a penalty decider. Graham converted the first, matched by the hosts before goalkeeper Tony Breeden’s effort was saved, allowing Sheffield to go ahead.
Sam Warburton made it 2-2 and Tulips’ hopes were raised when Breeden made up for his miss with a save.
Unfortunately, Wilson Carvalho missed the next kick but Sheffield did not. James Clifton made it 3-3 with Spalding’s last kick but the hosts converted their final shot to earn progress.
Sandy added: “It is disappointing to lose in the Trophy but it’s really difficult travelling away week after week. Some of these lads have travelled two and a half/three hours and if it was a league game we’d probably have taken the point after that. We’ll take the positives out of today. Yes we can be better but it’s a long season and at the end of the day to stay top of our league is the main priority.”
Saturday brings a fourth consecutive away knockout fixture in a row with a trip to Mickleover in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.
Tulips at Sheffield: Breeden, Draper (Morley), Warburton, Freeman (Carvalho), Stainfield, Cartwright, Barker, Walker, Clifton, Graham, Hilliard (Curtis). Subs: Sweeney, Sandy.
Attendance: 382.
Tulips at Grantham: Breeden, Draper, Warburton, Morley, Stainfield, Cartwright, Barker (Robbins), Curtis, Sandy (Walker), Carvalho (Graham, Kent), Hilliard (Bilicz). Sub: Sweeney.
Attendance: 177.
l The postponed league fixture against Shepshed Dynamo has been rearranged for Saturday, September 23.
