Spalding United

Gale force winds gusting at 60mph killed off any hope of entertaining football at Eslaforde Park on Tuesday evening, writes Ray Tucker.
There were more “up and unders” than at the average rugby match with players struggling to gain any sort of control and the ball was more out of the ground than in it. Even when the ball was played low the strength of the wind tossed it around making it even more difficult to string just a few passes together.
As a result scoring chances were few and far between, infact, there were but four worthy of note. The Tulips were nearest to getting the ball over the line with an early Tom James effort headed from the line by Charlie Ward and shortly before the interval Matt Brady’s stinging 25 yard effort was superbly saved by ‘keeper Doug Lingberg.
Midway through the first half Adam Fenton whistled a shot just a couple of feet wide of Nick Conroy’s goal and late on in the game substitute Liam Tustall’s rising shot from near 30 yards out inevitably curled the wrong side of a post.
One positive thing to come from the game was provided by Josh Ford who filled the boots of the departed John Paul Duncliffe superbly at right back. Considering that Josh, known more for his striking prowess, has only just returned to the game following an injury sustained at the beginning of October, his performance was outstanding. On hearing from caretaker boss Bob Don-Duncan that JP had left to play with his mates at Soham, Josh volunteered to fill the vacancy, having experienced playing in the position for half of a match while at Moulton Harrox.
Team: Nick Conroy, Josh Ford, Callum Earls, Jake Thompson, Glen Fuff, Simon Ashton, Ryan Cherry, Matt Brady, Greg Smith, Simon Mowbray, Tom James. Subs: Ryan O’Loughlin, Alex Lyon. Dan Hussey, James Allen.