Spalding United manager Brett Whaley takes charge of his 700th game in non-league football

Manager Brett Whaley marked his 700th game in non-league management with a victory as Spalding United defeated Sutton Coldfield on Saturday.

Sam Cartwright's goal proved decisive as the Tulips moved within two points of top spot in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division table.

The victory extended Spalding's unbeaten league run to 18 games and the Tulips boss was thrilled to bring up his personal milestone over 17 successive seasons with a victory as his side secured three consecutive wins for the first time this campaign.

Whaley said: "I've always kept a record of my games and I knew the 700th one was coming up and I was pleased to get a win on it because it's a lot of games.

"I'm as hungry now as I've ever been for the game because we're in a situation where we're working with a great set of lads and we're on a decent run as well.

"Getting three wins in a row for first time this season was part of the team talk on Saturday because it's why we are second in the league.

"The sides in and around us go on big winning runs and, although they might lose the odd game, they win a lot of football matches.

"We want to be looking at not just being a side which is difficult to beat but one which wins games.

"Too many times this season, we've won two games and then dropped a couple of points so it was important.

"It doesn't necessarily change too much because we want to turn those three wins into four and then five and go on a really good run and the focus is still on that.

Whaley had made two changes to the starting line-up following last week's win at Gresley with Danny Draper and Stefan Broccoli coming in for Dan Bucciero and Josh Moreman.

The Tulips started brightly on the new 3G surface at Coles Lane and Dylan Edge dragged an early shot wide before Elliot Sandy went close with a decent effort following an Aaron Hart cross.

A goal had looked on the cards and it arrived after 13 minutes when James Clifton's pinpoint cross picked out the unmarked Cartwright who guided his header into the home net.

The Royals rallied after falling behind and they created a couple of openings with Rhys Hilton seeing a shot deflected wide and Spalding goalkeeper Michael Duggan turning away an effort from Abdul Adegbola.

The game then turned into an evenly-matched contest with Edge pulling one shot wide before the Tulips were forced to replace injured striker Sandy with Toby Hilliard on the stroke of half-time.

Clear-cut chances were in short supply after the break as the Tulips looked to grind out another away victory.

John Mills fired a long range shot narrowly over the Spalding crossbar as the Tulips continued to work hard to ensure they returned home with another three points.

Whaley added: "It was a good result because Sutton Coldfield are a decent side and it was always going to be a tough place to play.

"We started brightly, missed a few chances and then got ahead. Although I felt we were fairly comfortable as the first half wore on, I think their movement and the way they set up caused us some problems.

"We had to sit in and accept that we had to deal with a bit of pressure which we have done before.

"The second half carried a pattern as they had lots of possession but we were pretty solid defensively and looked quite dangerous on the counter-attack.

"We never found that second goal so obviously then you end up sitting that little bit deeper but we have kept plenty of clean sheets this season that we've got so much confidence in the defensive unit that, if you need to see out a 1-0 win, then we feel that we've got it in us.

"We don't think that we're playing as well as we can but we've got a happy knack of getting results at the moment.

"We know that performances can still improve and they probably need to but ultimately, at this time of year, it's about finding a way to win games each week and not get too far ahead of yourself."

The Tulips are back in action at the Sir Halley Stewart ground on Saturday when they host Hinckley LR.

Tulips: Duggan, Hart, Draper, Barker, Cartwright, Stainfield, L Hilliard (Jones 55), Clifton (Moreman 74), Sandy (T Hilliard 45), Edge, Broccoli. Sub not used: Rolt. Attendance: 158.