A 3-1 victory over nearest rivals Harborough Town put Spalding United nine points clear at the top of the Southern League Premier Central table.
However, manager Jimmy Dean insists it is just three more points, with a long way to go until the title is decided.
Curtis Thompson, Maniche Sani and Bart Cybulski were on target in front of a bumper 1,170 crowd at the Sir Halley Stewart Field on Saturday, leaving Dean delighted with the result but refusing to get carried away by the euphoria.
“It’s a great result for us but ultimately it’s three points, that’s all it is,” he said. “It’s not a title decider. This is the start of a long, drawn-out process where there’s going to be twists and turns and pushes and pulls. They’re going to put it on us, we’re going to put it on them and there’ll be other teams as well that want to get in the mix.
“But it is the money rounds, it is the business time of the season and it’s a good start for us. I’m happy with that. It was a thoroughly deserved victory. We had six, seven chances when we should have scored.”
Man of the match Thompson put the Tulips ahead after 16 minutes.
Spalding old boy Riley O’Sullivan levelled after 33 minutes to leave it all square at the break and it took an inspired substitution by Dean to give the hosts the impetus to push on for victory.
Sani came off the bench to restore the home advantage after 76 minutes and then set up Bart Cybulski to wrap things up eight minutes into stoppage time, inflicting only the second defeat of the season on Harborough and stretching Spalding’s unbeaten run to 11 games.
Dean felt the substitution had been the turning point and said: “We weren’t great in the first half but probably edged it but didn’t play to plan, we played to their strengths.
“I made a brave decision and brought Mani on for Alfie (Bendle) and he turned the game on its head. He scored one, set up one and should have scored three more. He missed two sitters.
“But we can’t be too despondent about what we got wrong. We won a game when we deserved to win and there’s been a few times this season when we haven’t done that.”
Next up for the Tulips is a trip to third-placed Quorn on Saturday.
Tulips: Wilks, Sembie-Ferris, Olopade, Moore, Fryatt, Thompson, Roberts (Hart), Bendle (Sani), McCammon, Cybulski, Ceesay. Subs: White, Lawlor, Clifton.
Attendance: 1,170.
* Loan players Noah Freeman and James Dadge have returned to their parent clubs, Peterborough United and Northampton Town respectively.
Pictures by Adrian Smith.
