REPORT | Spalding United 3-1 Quorn

The Reds fell to a third successive defeat, despite, once again, being largely the better side throughout the match. Courey Grantham’s 72nd minute equaliser felt as though it would be the launching point for a victory, but a James Clifton brace won the spoils for the Tulips.

Quorn started brightly, with Silvio Bello making good progress down the left wing on numerous occasions early on. The Reds were unable to trouble Ben Heath in the Spalding goal though, and it was the hosts that almost opened the scoring, with the ball cannoning around the Quorn box, before a shot crashed off the crossbar and bounced to safety.

Richard Lavery’s side regained their early momentum though, making several forays into Spalding’s area, and were aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty when Bello was brought down in the 12th minute, with the full back requiring significant treatment for an injury sustained in the challenge. In what would become a pattern throughout the match, Referee Stuart Lathan awarded nothing for the Reds.

Spalding’s next opportunity came as Tyrell Shannon-Lewis was beaten by his marker and United sprung forward, only to be denied by a goal line clearance. Shannon-Lewis was seemingly only beaten in the tussle, as he almost had his shirt ripped clean off him, in a blatant foul, the neckline seemingly damaged beyond repair. Once again, Lathan was unmoved and allowed the challenge to go unpunished.

Moments later, Grantham broke through the defensive line, only to see a defender fall and handle the ball in the area, once again, nothing was given, despite vociferous protests from the Reds. Several niggly fouls by the hosts were going unpunished, including several by Clifton, who saw a teammate booked for a foul he had committed.

Quorn were seemingly the beneficiaries of another unpunished foul, as it appeared that Heath was impeded when coming for a cross. Shannon-Lewis was almost in the right place to get a shot off, but a defender whipped the ball off his toes, with the clearance only going as far as Bellow, whose shot was tipped over the bar by Heath. Another blatant handball was denied for Quorn as Grantham’s attempted cross was charged down on the edge of the box.

Half time arrived, with the sides goalless, Quorn had completely dominated the half, though seen the best chances fall to Spalding, who had offered very little going forward. Shortly after the restart Pat Zito was guilty of a foul, wide on the lefthand side, as he wiped out Riley O’Sullivan, who appeared to be going nowhere, and with no support in the box. The free kick was whipped in, where Sam Cartwright got on the end of it to poke it past Charlie Woods.

Quorn went straight back on the attack, flinging bodies forward in an effort to find an equaliser. Cain Noble, making a welcome return from injury, took a cross-field ball in stride, tearing down the right and laying a perfect ball across goal for Grantham to level the match. The Tulips probably should have been down to ten men shortly afterwards, when Clifton was adjudged to have fouled Devon Kelly-Evans.

Lathan appeared to indicate, accurately, that Clifton had gone in to the challenge with his studs up, hitting the diminutive midfielder in the groin. Somehow the midfielder, again, escaped any punishment for dangerous play. So it transpired that, when Jordan Gough was adjudged to have fouled O’Sullivan in the area, Clifton was on hand to convert an 83rd minute penalty.

Clifton added insult to injury when he completed his brace five minutes later. Woods had made a good initial save, but the rebound fell kindly to Clifton to finish the match. It’s a short turnaround for Quorn as they make a short trip to Anstey on Tuesday evening, where they will face the second placed Nomads.