PETERBOROUGH NS 0
HOLBEACH UTD 4
Holbeach United returned to something like their best form on Tuesday night as they roared to a 4-0 derby win at Peterborough Northern Star.
Goals from Mitch Griffiths (24) Stacy Cartwright (53), Will Bird (61) and sub Danny Barker (81) fired the Tigers to a comfortable victory at the Branch Bros Stadium and moves them up to fourth in the ChromaSport UCL Premier Division table.
That’s six points behind leaders Yaxley with three games in hand, but boss Seb Hayes still doesn’t feel that his side will win the title.
However, he was enthused to see his team declare their belief that they can end the season as champions – and has challenged them to prove him wrong and lift the UCL Premier Division crown for the first time since 2012.
Hayes, who was back in the dugout, said: “Let’s be honest, we played a Northern Star side badly out of form.
“It was a good time for us to play them, so I’m certainly not getting carried away.
“I’d say we played really well at times, but we’re still about 20 per cent off our best form.
“I can’t complain at all, we scored four goals away from home and kept a clean sheet.
“There was a better tempo about our play and much more intensity, which has been lacking in recent weeks.
“We probably should have scored a few more goals, but I’m just pleased that our attacking players looked to be back to something like their best form.
“Lewis Leckie was brilliant , Mitch Griffiths put in a quality performance and it was great to see Will Bird get a goal.
“You could see what it meant to him and his team-mates, which was great.
“It’s a convincing victory for us. The defence looked great, the midfield was solid and scored four goals. I have to be happy.
“Before the game, the lads – to a man – said to me that they think they can win the league this season.
“I’ve told them why I don’t think they well, but what I’ve said is ‘go and prove me wrong’. I’d love nothing more than to have to go and eat a massive slice of humble pie.
“As a manager, that’s exactly what you want to hear from your team and I genuinely hope that they do prove me wrong.
“For me, if we want to win the league, we need to win nine of our last ten games.”
Holbeach bossed the game from start to finish and went ahead when Griffiths fired home a low effort midway through the first half.
They had to wait until eight minutes into the second period to double their money when Cartwright headed home from a Griffiths corner.
The most popular goal of the night came just past the hour when Bird ended his lengthy drought with a rebound finish that appeared to go in of his knee.
There was still time for Barker to jump off the bench and round off the scoring with his first goal for the club – a decent hit from distance – ten minutes from time.
Tigers: Drury, Harker, N Jackson, Cartwright, Braithwaite, A Jackson (Zuerner), Tinkler, Smith (Avis), Leckie, Bird (Barker), Griffiths. Not used: Sanders.
