Hollyhead blasts 'unacceptable' and 'unforgivable' Poppies collapse in defeat to Spalding

The Poppies looked to be on course for victory in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central clash at Latimer Park as they eased into a 2-0 lead inside the first 24 minutes, with striker Nile Ranger netting both goals.

But Spalding striker Bart Cyculski burst into life to help himself to an eight-minute hat-trick as the Tulips turned it round to lead 3-2 at half-time, and the visitors then wrapped things up with a stoppage time strike from Jack Barker.

The defeat was a second successive league loss on home soil for the Poppies and, after Saturday's disappointing 1-1 draw at Worcester City, they have now dropped to fifth in the table, four points adrift of leaders Harborough Town.

And it was a tough one to take for a shell-shocked Hollyhead.

"If you concede three goals in the last 20 minutes of the half it is completely unacceptable, and that changed the momentum of the game," said the Poppies boss.

"We can't concede four goals at home in total, although we all saw why the fourth one happened as it was a breakaway and that is the risk you run when you try and do what we did in the second half.

"Overall, it is unforgivable to concede four goals, and it feels a lot deeper after what happened in the first 25 minutes.

"I am not going to stand here and point fingers at people, as ultimately it is my responsibility."

Asked if there was any complacency in the ranks after they had made light work of going 2-0 ahead, Hollyhead said: "We know a game is 95 minutes.

"We know it doesn't take long to score a goal, and it is imperative we have the mentality to stick to a gameplan for the whole match.

"For the 25 minutes at the start we had good control, our performance levels were good, and what we had set up to do was really effective, and then it almost comes down to very small key moments.

"Those moments led to them getting back into a game they were not in after 25 minutes.

"In the second half there was a lot of huffing and puffing and the lads really did have the bit between their teeth as we showed a lot of attacking intent, but to concede three goals as we did is tough to take for any team."

The Poppies take a break from league action on Saturday as they travel to fellow Premier Central side Quorn in the FA Cup.

The Leicestershire side were beaten 1-0 at Harborough on Tuesday night, conceding in stoppage time having played for 10 men for most of the match following Zak Goodson's 14th-minute sending off.

Quotes courtesy of Peter Short