Loughborough slip to disappointing opening day defeat

PITCHING IN NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE MIDLAND DIVISION SPALDING UNITED 2 LOUGHBOROUGH DYNAMO 1

LOUGHBOROUGH Dynamo fell to a disappointing and undeserved defeat on the opening day of their season as they lost 2-1 away at Spalding United.

A good number of travelling fans made their way to Lincolnshire for the game and there was a renewed sense of optimism and excitement at the start of the season especially with it having been so long since Dynamo were in competitive action.

The opening 20 minutes of the game were fairly quiet as both teams took the time to settle into the game and get used to competitive football again with very few chances in the first quarter of the game.

However, Loughborough Dynamo opened the scoring after 21 minutes when midfielder Curtis Burrows scored from a free kick from 20 yards out when he found the bottom left-hand corner.

Spalding didn’t take the goal lying down however, and they grew into the game and made life quite difficult at times for the Moes and they came close with just 10 minutes to go until half time when their number 10 was played through, but he put his shot wide.

And just one minute later, the former Bolton and Peterborough midfielder Marcus Maddison equalised for Spalding as he cut in from the right and his shot found the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first half and was very stop start as the referee had to work hard to control what was quite a fiery game at times.

That didn’t stop the Moes from having chances though. They came close a few times through shots from around the edge of the area as Courey Grantham, Rob Norris and Alex Steadman all had shots but none of them found the target.

And the sucker punch came in the 83rd minute as Scott Floyd broke into the box from the right wing and the right back’s shot beat the Dynamo goalkeeper and found the net.

Overall, there were lots of positives to take for Lee Attenborough’s men and despite going home with nothing there are plenty of reasons for optimism for the season ahead.

On Saturday they will travel to Cleethorpes in the FA Cup.

The Loughborough Dynamo squad for 2021/22: Back row (left to right): Merlin Ferrinho, Daniel Collins, Josh Riley, Luke Thorogood, Carl Sibson, Alex Steadman, Jack Smith, Michael Jacklin, Danny Gordon, Charlie Young, Tristan Matthews, Courey Grantham. Front row (left to right): Curtis Burrows, Rob Norris (Captain), Caitlin Newborough (Physio), Lee Attenborough (manager), Jason Alexander, Brad Munn (Assistant Manager), Steven Venables (first team coach), Ryan Nesbitt, Jake Finnerty.