It was a game of two halves for Jimmy Dean’s men in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against an impressive Scunthorpe side. The first half was a frustrating one with the Tulips not being clinical enough in front of goal. The second half, however, brought a lot more joy with goals from Sembie-Ferris and Dan Jarvis bringing Spalding back level after a significant improvement.

Scunthorpe started the game with the larger share of possession inviting the pressure from the Tulips. Sembie-Ferris had a couple of early runs at the Iron defence, but nothing was to come of it. Halfway into the first half, Roberts played a teasing through ball into Tom Pugh, but the Scunthorpe keeper was quick off his line to clear the danger.

In the 28th minute, Scunthorpe broke the deadlock through Evans after a cross was floated into the box which found the centre back who headed home from 10 yards out.

The Iron continued to be an attacking threat as Jones wandered into the Spalding box and fired a shot just wide of the upright. On the stroke of half-time, Scunthorpe were awarded a free kick on the halfway line which was taken quickly by Barrows who caught Crook off guard to make it 2-0 to the opposition.

Heading into half time, Spalding looked frustrated, with the Tulips having a lot of the ball but not capitalising on the chances. This frustration was replaced with confidence at the start of the second half as Spalding came out looking a lot sharper and purposeful on the ball.

On the hour mark, Ceesay danced past two opposition defenders before playing the ball out wide to Roberts who fired the ball into the box to be slotted home by Sembie-Ferris.

Just minutes later, the Tulips equalised through Dan Jarvis as Roberts whipped in yet another fantastic delivery with Jarvis finishing from point-blank range. In just 2 minutes, Spalding managed to get themselves level which brought excitement and hope to the fans.

For the rest of the second half, Spalding controlled the tempo of the game with Sani and Fowkes coming on in the 70th minute to offer a more direct attacking threat. The Tulips tried to find a winner but ultimately couldn’t after Sembie-Ferris missed a sitter in the last minute of the game to complete the turnaround.

FT: Spalding United 2-2 Scunthorpe United

By Zakk Symonds