An eight-goal thriller proved to be a video horror show for Holbeach United manager Danny Clifton.
Twice the Tigers held a two-goal lead in their Eastern Counties League Division One North opener against Cornard United but eventually had to settle for a 4-4 draw.
“We gifted them a point,” said a frustrated Clifton. “Their first goal was from 30 yards and a great finish but the other three all came after we gave away possession.
“I thought we’d got out of that bad habit but it cost us 11 or 12 times last season in games we should have won that we drew.
“I’ll try to fix it with the players we’ve got but they’ve been told if they don’t sort it, I’ll go and find new ones who can. It’s all on video so I can show them exactly what went wrong.”
After Cornard had taken an early lead, Holbeach turned things round in style with Sam Carter, George Frost and Harvey Wirkowski earning them a 3-1 half-time lead.
The Suffolk side pulled one back straight after the break but Frost added another to restore the two-goal gap.
However, Cornard scored a third and, despite having a player sent off, they grabbed an equaliser with nine minutes to go.
“We had four key players out but there’s no excuse to throw it away like that,” fumed Clifton.
“They had a player sent off but it was them who looked like they had an extra player at times. We allowed them to build their confidence.
“We were so in control at half-time we looked unbeatable but I told them the only people who could beat us was ourselves and that is exactly what happened.
“We knew they would throw everything at us for 10/15 minutes and all we had to do was stand strong.
“They got one back within three minutes but when we got the two-goal cushion back soon after, I thought we’d taken heed of the warning but, no, we made more crazy errors.
“They only looked dangerous at set-pieces but we kept lunging in and giving away silly corners and free-kicks.
“There was plenty of positives but just that one huge negative that overshadowed all the good work. George Frost was huge and Ryan Cook was awesome in the first half but needs to do that for 90.”
To add to Clifton’s misery, he returned home feeling not only miserable but also ill and said: “To top it all off, I felt absolute rubbish, and discovered I’d got Covid.”
Clifton was given a midweek break with no league match before Saturday’s trip to Haverhill Borough. FC Peterborough are the visitors to Carter’s Park next Wednesday in the League Cup.
Tigers v Cornard: Rigby, Coote, Johnson, Nicholson, Oldham, Carter, Hoyle, Frost, Compton, Wirchoski, Cook. Subs: Dalladay, Robertson, Ling.
Attendance: 107.
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