The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Everything is looking up for Spalding United as the club heads into the festive fixtures.
Back-to-back wins have lifted the Tulips up to 13th in the EvoStik NPL East Division.
New manager Matt Easton is starting to shape the side in his vision and his signings are having an impact.
He also says that Spalding have a clean bill of health as they get ready for three Christmas fixtures.
They go into them after beating AFC Mansfield 2-1 away from home.
New signing Kieran Wells, playing in his second game for the club, netted what proved to be the winner early in the second.
And Easton wants to continue their excellent form this month.
“It’s been a good December so far with seven points from nine and we’d like to keep it like that,” he said. “Saturday’s game was played in horrendous weather, absolutely awful, but we dug in and got something.
“The players really stuck to their tasks and got the job done.
“Kieran scored and both he and brother Bradley played really well.
“The front three were good throughout and we’re just a bit more of a threat now.
“They’re strong players as well. We wanted to bring in a bit of physicality and strength up front which we’ve really needed.”
The Tulips will be looking for further victories with two of their three games against sides below them in the table.
The Christmas bonanza starts with a home match against Cleethorpes this coming Saturday.
What on paper looks like the toughest fixture of the three comes on Boxing Day when Spalding go to play-off chasing Brighouse Town.
They’re then back at the Sir Halley Stewart on New Year’s Day when Wisbech Town make the short trip from Cambridgeshire.
“Nine points out of nine would be perfect but we’ve probably got to get something out of the two home games,” Easton said.
“Playing two sides just below us, we’ve got to stretch the gap between us and the bottom sides a bit further.
“It would be great to remain unbeaten throughout December.”
This Saturday’s match against Cleethorpes is particularly interesting given that both Easton, and Dave Smith, his counterpart at the Clee Road club, have been helping each other out with their new roles.
Both have stepped up from assistant positions to take up the manager roles with the season already underway, Easton in September and Smith in October.
And the pair have been passing their knowledge of the division to each other.
Both are on unbeaten runs and are climbing the table.
“I know manager Dave Smith and his team very well.
“I keep in touch with them quite a bit.
“They’ve given me a few pointers about teams we’ve been playing and vice versa.
“They’ve had a number of positive results recently and they should not be where they are in the bottom half.
“They’ve got two good lads up front and a strong defence so it will be a good test for us.”
The Tulips are also heading into the Christmas period with a clean bill of health.
“I think everybody is fit, which is unusual,” said Easton. “I’ve a whole 16 man squad to choose from for these games, though I know there’s one or two away early in the new year.”
