Report: 4th XI Men vs Bourne Deeping 3s – November 15, 2025
Spalding Fourths, sponsored by Ashwood Homes, travelled the short distance to Glinton to play Bourne Deeping Thirds. On paper, this proved to be a challenge and with only having a squad of twelve, Spalding had it all to do.
As expected, the home side dominated the game however the side came away with a lot of plaudits as they all worked incredibly hard against a well organised, skilful side.
MOM goalkeeper Steve Thurlbourne who had an excellent game, made a series of good saves as the game progressed however was left helpless when a cruel deflection from Sam Hicks who had potentially saved a goal bound shot fell perfectly for a Bourne forward to tap in to open the scoring midway through the first half.
The home side doubled their lead when Ed Sly was incredibly unfortunate not to stop a fierce short corner shot that deflected in off his stick that may have taken a nick on the way.
The first half ended 2-0 to the home side however everyone had put in a shift. Fred Neal in central midfield was running all over the pitch and had a fantastic game against an extremely strong Bourne Deeping midfield. The three forwards; Will Clark, John Clark & Matt Dorsett were working hard up front, and it was the same through the team.
Bourne scored a good goal with a well worked move to put the game to bed. At three goals, Spalding would have considered this to be a particularly good result against a side that would easily cope with the league above, but the home side scored a further two goals to make the scoreline 5-0 and the final result.
However, the second half was as the first, Spalding worked extremely hard. Defensively, James Morris, Sam Hicks, James Giles, Andy Barlow & Ed Sly played well against a strong Bourne attack. On the midfield flanks, Isaac Davison & Martins Pavlovics easily had their best game for the Maroons and were excellent.
So on to the next game and another tough assignment against St Ives Fourths in the second of four consecutive away games.