A non-league defender played a vital cameo in securing three away points for his team on Tuesday night. But in playing the last two minutes of Spalding’s backs-to-the-wall away win at Bury St Edmunds, Lewis White was carrying a guilty secret: he had gone to the wrong Bury first.
The 24-year-old had travelled for the Southern Football League Premier central fixture against Bury Town under his own steam and driven from his home in Leicestershire. Instead of heading east to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, however, he drove north to Bury in Greater Manchester, and added 200 miles to his journey in the process.
First reported by LincsOnline, White appears to have driven all the way to Bury FC’s Gigg Lane before realising his error. After schlepping back down the A14, he arrived at Getaway Cars Stadium, home of Bury Town, in time to help close out victory for the Tulips, with Spalding winning 2-1 despite playing with 10 men.
Their manager, Jimmy Dean, said: “I asked the people at Bury if it had ever happened before and they said it hadn’t,. He must have been in a world of his own, but he’s come and helped see the game out for us and it’s always a fantastic feeling to win a midweek match.”
Spalding moved up to fourth on the back of the result, ahead of Quorn on goal difference but four points off the leaders, Harborough. Their next fixture is an FA Cup qualifying round fixture against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
When approached for comment, a club spokesperson said: “We would like to solely focus on preparing for a huge game for us at the weekend.”
