Spalding United 3
Sutton Coldfield Town 0
Spalding United made the perfect start to the new Pitching In NPL South East Division season as they thrashed Sutton Coldfield Town 3-0 on Saturday.
First-half goals from Joel Brownhill (8), Spencer Weir-Daley (24) and Jamie Goddard (44) got the job done for the Tulips at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
But tempers flared in the second half, with Ollie Price sent off for two yellow cards and Grimsby Town loanee Cameron Painter dismissed at the four minutes from time following a scuffle with Ben George.
The second-half cards failed to take the shine off Spalding’s super success, though, as they began a second successive season with a win over Sutton Coldfield.
Boss Lewis Thorgood said: “If you’d have asked me on Saturday morning what my perfect scenario would have been, being 3-0 up at half-time would have been it.
“We could really have won 4-0 or 5-0, that wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.
“I’m really happy with everybody’s approach to the game. We made some tough decisions and had to leave a few out, but the attitude was great across the board.
“The performance, tempo and workrate shown was great and we couldn’t really have made a better start to the league season.”
The Tulips, who handed starts to new signings Mitch Griffiths and Tyrell Shannon-Lewis, started well and went ahead on eight minutes when Joel Brownhill beat a man and finished well after Weir-Daley had nodded a cross from his brother Lewis Brownhill into his path.
Joel Brownhill went close again after charging down a clearance, with the ball rebounding off the post.
It was 2-0 soon after, though, as a mistake by defender Alex Smith allowed Weir-Daley to race through and score his first competitive goal for the club.
Goddard then combined with Joel Brownhill and Weir-Daley before crashing home Spalding’s third and making the points safe just before the break.
The red cards dominated the second period, with a booking for dissent and a foul doing for Price. Joel Brownhill rattled the woodwork from a free-kick too, before Painter and George walked following an 86th-minute melee.
Tulips: Duggan, Griffiths, Greenwood, Price, Floyd, Clark, Shannon-Lewis (Curran 88), L Brownhill, Goddard, Weir-Daley (Painter 73), J Brownhill. Not used: Liversidge, Fenton, Richards.
Attendance: 151.
