Spalding United beat Boldmere St Michaels in the Northern Premier League

Three goals in four second half minutes fired Spalding United to victory on Saturday.

James Clifton, Tyler Winters and a Lewis Allison own goal secured the success for the Tulips in their Northern Premier League Midlands Division match at Boldmere St Michaels.

The opening period had finished goalless before Spalding turned on the style after the break with a triple strike ahead of the hour mark.

Manager Elliot Sandy commented: "The match was always a bit of a banana skin for us because Boldmere is a difficult place to come.

"The first half wasn't great but I think we really turned it around after half-time with a much better performance.

"It was fantastic to score three goals and get a clean sheet."

The Tulips had made one change to their starting line-up following last weekend's win over Loughborough Dynamo with Danny Draper coming into the side.

Winters went close in the early exchanges when he headed narrowly wide from a Sam Warburton cross before Spalding were served a warning when the hosts rattled the upright with a shot.

Glenn Walker pulled an effort wide of the home goal before James Clifton produced a superb save from home goalkeeper Tommy Jackson who tipped his shot to safety.

Draper also had an effort blocked after a good passage of play as the opening period finished goalless.

Spalding introduced Riley O'Sullivan for the second half and they took the lead just nine minutes after the restart when Clifton - who had been pushed into a more attacking role - glanced home a header from Walker's cross.

The lead was doubled two minutes later with Clifton this time the provider as he played a fine through ball for Winters to race clear and slot home.

A third goal followed in the 58th minute when an unchallenged Allison headed the ball into his own net to put the contest beyond Boldmere.

The hosts had a couple of late chances but Spalding goalkeeper Tony Breeden made smart saves to ensure a clean sheet as Sandy's substitutions paid off in an impressive second 45 minutes.

The Spalding boss explained: "I didn't feel we had got started in the first half and, as they hit the post, we could have been 1-0 down at half-time.

"We tweaked a couple of things at half-time and pushed James Clifton further forward and he added that little bit of quality for us while Riley brought his work-rate endeavour and pace.

"You don't always get things right when you make changes but it worked out the right way for us and we blew them away for the first 20 minutes of the second half.

"It was a great result and a really big three points for us."

The victory moved second-placed Spalding to within a point of league leaders Harborough Town whose match at Lye was postponed.

The Bees do have two games in hand on Spalding - one of which is a trip to Walsall Wood on Tuesday night - while the Tulips now have an eight-point advantage over third-placed Anstey Nomads who have played three matches fewer.

Sandy added: "We've got nine games left now and it's about us and how we approach it and where we want to be.

"We've put ourselves into a good position and all we can do is concentrate on ourselves, keep trying to win games and see what happens after that."

Spalding's next league match is on Tuesday, March 12, when Lye Town are the visitors to the Sir Halley Stewart ground.