An incredible 12-hour-plus lockout was brought to an end in devastating fashion for Spalding United at the Sir Halley Stewart Field on Saturday.
The Tulips had not conceded a goal since November 18, eight games earlier. Elliot Sandy’s men were also unbeaten in 10 Northern Premier League games so no-one could have forecast a 5-0 thumping at home by title rivals Anstey Nomads.
Manager Sandy was bemused by his side’s capitulation especially against a side who lost their goalkeeper to injury in the first half and had to play the majority of the match with an outfield player between the posts.
“It was just one of those games,” he said. “Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. We just have to put it behind us and think that whether you lose 1-0 or 5-0, it’s still only three points dropped.
“It’s all about how we bounce back and we’ll be working hard in training this week to consign it to bitter memory. We’ve been on a great run but that was real eye-opener and we need to get over it quickly.”
Spalding had lost only one of their previous 11 home matches, winning the other ten so were confident of cementing their position at the top of the Midlands Division table.
They tested veteran goalkeeper Conrad Logan twice in the opening 15 minutes but he was injured pulling off the second save. With no goalkeeper on the bench, defender Joel Wolfe had to pull on the gloves.
Any hopes of a home romp were soon dismissed as Luis Rose put the Leicestershire side ahead after 26 minutes and Nyle Blake made it 2-0 before half-time.
Blake went on to register a hat-trick and Corey Armeni completed the fistful of goals.
Elliot said: “We started quite well and it was end to end. Their goalkeeper pulled off a couple of good saves but when he went off, perhaps that was where things changed.
“Perhaps some of our lads switched off and thought the game was there for the taking.
“In contrast Anstey really stepped up and worked very hard to keep us at bay.
“We’d kept eight clean sheets in a row, which I’ve never heard of before, but maybe that put a bull’s-eye on our backs and teams were determined to end the record.
“Even so, it’s a hard one to take.”
The closest the Tulips came to scoring was just after the interval when Danny Draper’s cross-cum-shot grazed the crossbar.
Their misery was completed ten minutes before the end when half-time substitute James Clifton was sent off for a late challenge.
Tulips: Breeden, Westwood (Clifton), Warburton, Walker, Stainfield, Freeman (Winters), Hilliard, Barker, O’Sullivan, Bennett (Graham), Draper. Subs: Cartwright, Curtis.
Attendance: 385.
