South Holland duo Spalding United and Holbeach United suffered narrow defeats on the road on Saturday as both blew early leads.
Spalding slipped up 2-1 at Evo-Stik NPL Division One South title rivals Newcastle Town, while Holbeach were knocked out of the FA Buildbase Vase 3-2 at Long Eaton United.
Starting with the Tulips, all looked to be going to plan when the in-form Cenk Acar gave them a 12th-minute lead when he saw his initial penalty saved, but buried the rebound.
It got better for Dave Frecklington’s side soon after, with Newcastle’s Jon Beaumont shown a straight red card.
That didn’t really seem to bother the hosts, however, as they levelled through a penalty of their own on 41 minutes, Lee Cropper the scorer.
An action replay followed ten minutes in the second period, with Cropper scoring from the spot once again to put Newcastle 2-1 ahead.
That’s how it stayed, with the home seed seeing the game out to climb up to the top of the table. Spalding remain third, but are now six points off their conquerors with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, the Tigers also made the ideal start in Derbyshire as Stacy Cartwright drilled home a 14th-minute opener at Long Eaton.
But they didn’t hold onto the advantage for very long, with a Rob McCormick double giving the hosts a 2-1 half-time lead.
Sub Jordan Thomas soon hauled Holbeach level in the second period, only for Shaun Rickford to grab the winner soon after and end the Tigers’ FA Vase dream for another season.
Elsewhere, the big game of the day in the ChromaSport PDFL was the Lincs Junior Cup clash between Premier Division heavyweights Pinchbeck United and Division One underdogs Long Sutton Athletic.
The game went with the formbook, with Pinchbeck emerging as 3-0 winners at Knight Street thanks to goals from Ollie Maltby (pen 11), Liam Ogden (51) and Tom Brooks (90).
Moulton Harrox’s county cup clash at North Somercotes United was rained off.
See www.spaldingvoice.co.uk throughout the week for plenty more football news, with full coverage in Thursday’s edition of The Spalding and South Holland Voice.
RESULTS
Evo-Stik NPL
Division One South: Bedworth United 1 Carlton Town 0; Belper Town 2 Market Drayton Town 1; Gresley 3 Basford United 0; Newcastle Town 2 Spalding United 1; Rugby Town 1 Romulus 2; Sheffield FC 2 Chasetown 1.
ChromaSport UCL
Premier Division: Deeping Rangers 4 Wellingborough Town 0; Harborough Town 2 Peterborough Northern Star 1; ON Chenecks 3 Oadby Town 0; Yaxley 1 Cogenhoe United 0.
FA Buildbase Vase
Second round proper (selected): Gorleston 2 Northampton Sileby Rangers 1; Long Eaton United 3 Holbeach United 2; Newport Pagnell Town 2 Broadfields United 1; Peterborough Sports 5 Biggleswade 3.
ChromaSport PDFL
Premier Division: Leverington Sports 6 Deeping Rangers Res 1; Netherton United 12 Stanground Sports 1; Sawtry 3 Thorney 2; Stilton United 5 Peterborough Sports Res 3; Wisbech Town Res 4 -Uppingham Town 2.
Division One: Baston 1 Glinton & Northborough 6; Oundle Town 4 Sutton Bridge United 7; Peterborough Polonia 0 Kings Cliffe 1; Whittlesey Athletic Res 3 Stamford Belvedere 1.
Division Two: Ketton Res 2 Langtoft United Res 1.
Division Three: Sutton Bridge Utd Res 2 AFC Stanground Sports A 1; Uppingham Town Res 5 Sawtry Res 5.
Division Four: Cardea 7 Holbeach Bank 1; Feeder 6 Long Sutton Athletic Res 1; Huntingdon Rovers 4 AFC Stanground Sports B 0; Stamford Lions A 1 Parkside 2; Whaplode Drove 3 FC Peterborough Res 0.
Division Five: Orton Rangers 2 Holbeach United A 2; Ramsey Town Res 0 Eunice Huntingdon 3; Riverside Res 5 AFC Orton 1.
Intermediate Shield: Crowland Town Res 1 AFC Stanground Sports Res 5; Leverington Sports Res 0 Ramsey Town 10; Peterborough ICA Sports Res 3 Farcet United 4; Whittlesey Athletic A 0 Tydd St Mary 1; Rutland DR 1 FC Peterborough 6.
League Shield: Premiair 8 Netherton United B 3.
Lincs FA Junior Cup
Selected results: Horncastle Town 11 Crowland Town 2; Pinchbeck United 3 Long Sutton Athletic 0; Stamford Lions 3 Appleby Frodingham 1.
