The Tulips began their 26/27 campaign with an emphatic 2-0 win over Radcliffe FC on Saturday afternoon. A brace of goals from Bartosz Cybulski saw Spalding secure a valuable first 3 points in the club’s first National League North game.

It was a slow start to the first half with Radcliffe having the larger share of possession and showcasing their experience. The Boro had a chance early on as Davies played a neat ball through to Roscoe, but the Radcliffe man found himself in an offside position.

The Tulips then started to display their attacking quality with a flash of magic from Ceesay as he dribbled past two players before the chance fizzled out. Roberts then teased a lovely ball into the box, but nobody could get on the end of it.

Roberts nearly went close himself before half-time as Olopade sent him through, with the winger going down in the 18-yard area but the referee waved away all hopeful shouts from surrounding players.

A goalless first half brought many chances for either side, but neither could strike the finishing blow.

The message at half-time from manager Jimmy Dean was to play an incisive pass rather than a ‘safe pass’. On 55 minutes, Ceesay played a low cross into Bart Cybulski who curved his shot past the Radcliffe keeper to break the deadlock and give us a 1-0 lead.

In the minutes that followed, Cybulski dispatched a ball to Ceesay who found himself through 1-on-1 with the keeper, but the Radcliffe shot-stopper made a crucial save to keep the score at 1-0.

Radcliffe then attempted to freshen up their front line with a triple substitution seeing Hulme, Taylor and Hawley coming on for Seary, Clegg and McCarthy, respectively. The substitute Jon Taylor went close, but his cross was cleared away at the front post by the dominant Tulips defence.

The debutant Sam Straughan-Brown, who replaced Jarvis in the 82nd minute, then rolled a ball into Cybulski who got his second of the match, rolling the ball past the Boro keeper for 2-0.

A clean sheet, 3 points and a perfect start to the season for the Tulips. We look forward to our first home game of the season next Saturday against Oxford City!

FT: Radcliffe FC 0-2 Spalding United

By Zakk Symonds