O’Sullivan leaves it until late

A last-gasp 3-2 win at Coleshill Town on Saturday pushed Spalding United back into the top two of the Northern Premier League’s Midland Division.

It came after they had conceded the lead for the fourth time in the last five games, when they had scored first.
Again they were two goals to the good before being hauled back to 2-2.
However, unlike draws at Gresley and Sutton Coldfield, this time they had enough left in the tank to secure maximum points, thanks to Riley O’Sullivan’s 88th-minute strike.
Manager Elliot Sandy said: “I was so proud of the boys because we played really well again.
“We had thrown away the leads at Gresley and Sutton Coldfield when we had been dominating games and, again after Coleshill scored their first goal, we let another one in.
“But, we hung on in the game and Riley produced a bit of magic for us at the end, which is what we brought him to the club for.
“He worked his socks off all game and deserved that and it was what everyone – management team, club, staff and the players – deserved because we had been on a bit of a rough patch.”
The Tulips went ahead after 19 minutes when Danny Draper and Lewis Hilliard won possession and sent Glenn Walker clear to fire in a cross that was turned in by Peterborough United loanee Tyler Winters.
Things were looking good seven minutes later when Winters was first to react to a loose ball and slipped in his second goal.
O’Sullivan and Draper went close and those misses looked costly when Niall Rowe pulled one back midway through the second half.
It got worse for the visitors four minutes later when Lewis Collins made it 2-2.
However, Spalding have learned their lesson and this time pushed on for a winner, which arrived in the closing stages when goalkeeper Tony Breeden marked his return between the posts by launching a pinpoint kick to O’Sullivan and he ran on to fire home the winner from outside the penalty area.
Sandy added: “That’s back-to-back wins and away from home too. We’re up to second in the league and have hopefully left our bad run behind us ahead of a very important couple of weeks.”
The Tulips are at home to sixth-placed Sporting Khalsa on Saturday before travelling to leaders Harborough Town the following week.
The club are offering senior citizens free admission to the Khalsa game, as well as a complimentary bacon roll.
Anyone aged 65 or over interested in taking up the offer, needs to collect a voucher, which is available on the club’s Twitter feed – tinyurl.com/TulipsBacon – and show it on entry.
United’s postponed Lincolnshire County FA Senior Cup tie at home to Grimsby Town has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 19.
Tulips: Breeden, Westwood (Hakeem 65), Warburton, Walker, Cartwright, Freeman, Hilliard, Clifton (Snedden 25), O’Sullivan, Winters (Sandy 81), Draper. Subs: Wysocki, Ngwa.
Attendance: 145.