Spalding go to Telford looking to build on the late win over Darlington

Wednesday 4 November 2026 · By Hugh Pendleton

Spalding United go to AFC Telford United on Saturday looking to build on last weekend’s 3–2 home win over Darlington. No new club news has been found since then, and there have been no league or cup games in the National League North.

The table is unchanged. Spalding are 11th on 21 points from 14 games. They are three points behind Hednesford, who hold the seventh and final play-off place, and six points above Scarborough in 21st.

Jimmy Dean’s side beat Darlington 3–2 on Saturday 31 October in front of 781. D. Jarvis opened the scoring on 22 minutes and D. Barton added a second on 34 minutes. Darlington hit back through Jacob Hazel early in the second half and Mark Beck ten minutes from time. Barton then scored again five minutes from the end to win it.

Lincs Online noted that Spalding “had conceded a two-goal advantage for the third home game in succession”. This time they still took the points.

Dean told Lincs Online: “It would have been tough if we hadn’t won it after being 2-0 up again but we’ve found a way.” He also gave an update on the squad: “We’ve got one of the best centre-halves in the league back but we’ve lost one of the better centre forwards in Bart to injury.”

The win ended a run of four league games without a victory. Spalding’s form reads W L L L D W, and they are unbeaten in two.

Saturday’s opponents are also in decent form. AFC Telford are 15th on 19 points, two behind Spalding, and are unbeaten in four league games after a 2–1 win at Southport last weekend. Southport’s club site gave the attendance for that game as 1,290. Telford manager Kevin Wilkin said afterwards: “You need that bit of a cushion so moments like that don’t end up catching you out”.

Kick-off at Telford is 15:00 GMT on Saturday 7 November. A win would lift Spalding to 24 points, level with sixth and seventh.

After that, Spalding go to Enfield Town in the FA Trophy second round on Saturday 14 November. The BBC lists a home league game with Hebburn on Tuesday 17 November, a date that has not been confirmed by a second source. Merthyr Town visit on Saturday 21 November, and Spalding go to Scarborough on Tuesday 24 November.

That run includes three games against sides currently below them in the table. Hebburn are 14th on 20 points, Merthyr 19th on 16 and Scarborough 21st on 15.

Second to seventh go into the play-offs, with only the champions promoted automatically, and the bottom four are relegated. Spalding sit in a part of the table where a good run could bring a play-off push and a bad one could draw them towards the bottom four.

The key for Dean appears to be holding on to leads. Spalding have shown they can score goals at home, and Saturday will test whether they can do it away to a side that has been hard to beat in recent weeks.

The injury to the forward Dean called Bart is one to watch. No further detail on it has been published.