Holbeach United 6
Sleaford Town 0
Goal-hungry Holbeach United smashed Sleaford Town for six at Carter’s Park on Saturday morning as they kicked off their ChromaSport UCL Premier Division campaign in style.
Debutant strikers Will Bird (13 and 51) and Lewis Leckie (17) impressed by bagging the first three goals for the Tigers, while skipper Nick Jackson (55), sub Charley Sanders (pen 83) and young gun Cal Davies (85) rounded off the rout.
It could have been much worse for beleaguered Sleaford, who have endured a summer of managerial turmoil and player departures.
Indeed, Holbeach boss Seb Hayes was actually disappointed that his side only managed six goals – admitting that they spent most of the game in cruise control.
“I’m slightly frustrated,” said Hayes. “It is nit-picking, but 6-0 should have been more.
“It could have been 10-0. We came out in the second half and got two good goals, but then took our foot off the gas and played at testimonial pace.
“We weren’t really at it – and we’re not a good enough side not to be at it. If we had been, we’d have got ten goals.
“I don’t want to come across as overly-critical or disrespectful towards Sleaford by saying we should have scored double figures, but if you watched that game you could see that we were far superior.
“For me, when you’re on top you have to kill teams. In this league, if you don’t, teams can nick goals put your backs against the wall.
“I just want us to be at it for 90 minutes and work our socks off.
“It is very good that the three forwards all scored goals and I thought we were brilliant on set-pieces, causing them problems all game.
“Our sixth goal was from playing out from the back, I think there was ten or 12 passes. We played different types of football, sometimes we went long, sometimes we passed it around and played with width.
“The new lads were all very busy. I thought we lost a bit of impetus when we took Leckie off and lost that combination with Bird, which worked really well.
“Overall, I’m chuffed to pieces – but you always want to be striving to improve.
“Our standards need to be at 100 per cent for 90 minutes. I felt it was more like 75 per cent from us, because we went into cruise control.
“All in all, on the first game of the season you want to win the game, keep a clean sheet and score as many as you can. We’ve done that.”
In front of a crowd of 333 in what was game two of the UCL/PDFL Groundhop weekend, Holbeach started much the better and went close when Matt Warfield rifled a strike just wide of the post.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers to break the deadlock, with Leckie racing clear and rounding the keeper – allowing strike partner Bird to tap home the loose ball on 13 minutes.
Bird then rattled the outside of the post from a tight angle, before turning provider for Leckie on 17 minutes. The ex-Deeping Rangers ace squared a pass nicely from the left, affording Leckie a simple finish from six yards out.
The strike duo combined well throughout the first half and both look to be excellent signings.
From then up until half-time there was a steady flow of chances for the hosts, with only poor finishing and some smart saves from Sleaford stopper Gary Doran keeping the score down.
Doran denied a Bird and Joe Smith in quick succession, before Leckie headed a Mitch Griffiths cross past the far post and Dan Jenkins headed wide when well placed in the box.
That man Doran then kept out Bird’s low drive with his legs in a one-on-one situation, before finger-tipping a Griffiths cross past the far post.
There was no let up after the interval, with Leckie turning a Jenkins cross onto the bar before Bird finally bagged the third goal six minutes into the half. The striker superbly buried a header into the corner following a classy cross from Stacy Cartwright.
If that wasn’t game over, it was four minutes later when skipper Jackson rose to plant another header into the bottom corner following a Griffiths corner.
Sub Sanders, who replaced Leckie, went close a number of times – including forcing a stellar double save from Doran – before getting his name on the scoresheet with a penalty seven minutes from time.
And there was still time for a top team goal for the Tigers, who played the ball out from the back before the ball eventually fell to teenage talent Davies on the right. His low drive took a big deflection before nestling into the bottom corner on 85 minutes.
Bird did have a late chance to complete what would have been a debut treble, but glanced a Griffiths cross wide in added time.
Tougher tests lie ahead of the Tigers, but – on this evidence at least – they look like a different animal to last season as they aim for (at least) a top six finish.
Tigers: Drury, Jenkins, Cartwright, Jackson, Braithwaite, Warfield (Asplin 72), Smith, Griffiths, Zuerner (Davies 60), Leckie (Sanders 60), Bird. Not used: Harker.
Attendance: 333.
MOTM: Braithwaite.
