The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding United believe Avelino Vieira is the striker to fire them to promotion.
The Tulips have signed the Peterborough Northern Star hitman and he goes straight into the side for the crunch match at play-off rivals Stafford Rangers on Saturday.
Vieira, who has also played for Corby Town and Kettering Town, has hit 15 goals in 21 appearances for UCL Premier Division side PNS this season.
Tulips boss Pat Rayment said he was keen to act quickly after three recent defeats put the brakes on their promotion push in Evo-Stik League Division One South.
He said: “We have lost those games because out frontline have not given the team enough.”
Rayment has brought top strikers to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field during his tenure – proven scorers in players such as Francis Green, Shane Tolley and Andrew Tidswell.
But the Tulips manager says, for a number of different reasons, none have quite done it for him.
“The nearest one to the mark is Jordan Hempenstall and now he’s out injured,” bemoaned Rayment. “We tried to sign Avelino when we were in the UCL and his name kept cropping up when we were discussing the type of player we need.
“I have got to get this frontline sorted out because that’s the only thing that is costing us games and it is very, very frustrating.”
Rayment admitted that Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Gresley all but ended the Tulips’ title hopes, a result which saw them slip 13 points behind leaders Mickleover Sports with only one game in hand on them.
“I think the title is out of our reach now. Put it this way – I wouldn’t put any money on it,” said Rayment. “But we’re very much in the play-off mix and we have a big game on Saturday that we have to win.”
The Tulips go into the match in fourth place; Stafford Rangers are fifth, on level points, having played three more matches.
