The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding Ladies 1st 0
Long Sutton 1st 1
Hannah Barker was on target to give Sutton the local derby bragging rights and help them to their first win of the East Women’s Division Two North West win at the ninth attempt.
A gripping encounter saw Spalding dominate possession, orchestrating numerous attacks with several short corners and shots on goal.
Despite their offensive prowess, the first half remained goalless as Sutton’s defence held firm.
In the second half Spalding kept battling hard with player of the match Jess Ball creating several opportunities to score without success.
Sutton capitalised on a counter-attack, breaking through Spalding’s defence to score the decisive goal.
Kate Tilbrook was player of the match for the visitors, with their defence proving resilient.
Cambridge Nomads 1st 1
Spalding Ladies 2nd 3
Spalding knocked their visitors off the top of the Three North West table after hitting back from behind to earn victory.
Nomads took the lead when they overloaded the visiting defence to score at the far post.
Player of the match Sally Pilgrim set up Charlotte Maplethorpe to win a penalty corner, converted by Karen Timby to equalise and Spalding took the lead when Maplethorpe scored. Emily Wright sealed the three points with a deflection from a penalty corner strike.
Spalding Ladies 3rd 2
Cambridge Nomads 2nd 6
Samantha Foston gave Spalding a flying start with a goal in their Division Four North West encounter but it proved to be false hope.
It was all square at the interval but Nomads pulled clear with the three quick goals in the second half and added two more after Lucy McClements had pulled one back.
Pelicans 1st 5
Spalding Men 1st 2
Spalding ran the East Men Division One North leaders close before being caught out on the break.
The King’s Lynn team opened a 3-0 lead before Dan Azzopardi pulled one back before the break.
A short corner saw Stuart Cunnington convert to make it 3-2 but, as Spalding pushed for an equaliser, they left gaps at the back and Pelicans capitalised to add two more in quick succession.
Spalding Men 2nd 4
St Ives 3rd 1
Spalding were back at Glenn Park after consecutive away games and made the most of home advantage with a win in Three North West.
Spalding were strong from the start, pinning St Ives in their own half, and some swift passes allowed Matt Sanders to hit the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. Matt Hulme doubled the lead before half-time.
St Ives halved the deficit before debutant Lewis Burton assisted Finlay Roy on the penalty spot to slap in the ball.
Matt Pottle sent the ball whizzing past the goalkeeper to complete the scoring for the hosts.
St Neots 2nd 9
Spalding Men 3rd 0
Spalding soaked up a lot of early pressure before running out of steam in their Division Four North West match.
St Neots broke the deadlock after 15 minutes and, despite some penalty corners and half chances on the counter-attack, Spalding could not score. The hosts were more clinical and scored two more before half-time, with their relentless attacks bringing six more afterwards.
Spalding Men 4th 3
Kettering 4th 2
Spalding made it three Division Five North West wins on the bounce after overcoming a solid comeback.
Dave Burrell’s pin-point cross was turned into his own net by a Kettering defender and a well worked move was finished off at the far post by Max Wright to make it 2-0.
Kettering fought their way back with a deflection and then a well-struck goal just before half-time saw them turn round all square.
Spalding found the winning breakthrough in the second half with a solo run and finish from Andy Barlow.
Long Sutton Men 1st 7
Ely City 1st 2
The goals flowed for all three Sutton men’s teams with 19 goals in their three games. The first team led the way with a 7-2 win in East Division Two North West.
Joshua Fyson’s drag flick was deflected into his own goal by a defender to open the scoring and a quick turnover from McKenzie East inside the opposition D fell for Josh Baker to strike on his backhand to double the lead.
A perfect through ball to Baker saw him unleash first time on his backhand to open a three-goal lead before Ely pulled one back before the interval. A counter attack after a turnover saw a sideline ball worked well across the top of the D for Fyson to smash the ball into the goal.
The fifth goal fell for Taylor to tap home then a long ball down the right flank was perfect for Baker to latch on to in the D as he cut inside and made it a hat-trick.
East scored probably the best individual goal of the lot after rounding three players to finish cleverly into the bottom corner. Michael Donaghy earned the man of the match honours for his efforts in the back line.
Long Sutton Men 2nd 6
Camb Nomads 2nd 0
A swift start propelled Sutton to a convincing win in Division Three North West.
Stef Fox won a short corner, which was dispatched on the rebound by Daniel Batten and then Alex Canham got ahead of his marker to guide the ball into the net.
Some neat work between the brothers White in the middle of the park saw Edmund set up Will to dance around the defence and finish strongly to open his account for the year. It was quickly four when Luke Jackson found Canham in the D and he slotted the finish through the goalkeeper’s legs. Jackson set up Batten for another and just before the end Canham turned provider for man of the match Batten to complete his hat-trick.
Ely City 3rd 6
Long Sutton Men 3rd 6
Man of the match Andrew Shore scored twice, matching Jack Braggington’s tally as Sutton shared a 12-goal bonanza at Ely. James Collingwood and Daniel Simpson completed things.
