Seb Hayes admits that the next two weeks could end up defining Holbeach United’s season.
The Tigers took on Wellingborough Town in the last eight of the Future Lions UCL Knockout Cup tonight (7.45pm), then head to Godmanchester Rovers in the third round of the Buildbase FA Vase this Saturday (3pm).
UCL Premier Division clashes with Sleaford (home, Wednesday, 7.45pm) and Whitworth (away, December 8) are then sandwiched between a big Lincs Senior Trophy quarter-final with Pinchbeck United at Carter’s Park on December 12.
Boss Hayes says that the two cup quarter-finals are his priority, insisting that lifting silverware in both competitions is a “realistic goal”.
Having conceded that Holbeach have no chance of winning the league last week, the boss also feels that defeat in the Vase wouldn’t be a massive deal.
But he’s hopeful of seeing off Thurlow Nunn Premier Division outfit Godmanchester on Saturday and wants Holbeach’s run in the national competition to go on as long as it possibly can.
“The next two weeks or so are a massively important part of our season,” said Hayes. “We could be in two semi-finals and the next round of the Vase, or out of everything.
“To be honest, I’d pick reaching the semi-finals over the Vase at this point.
“I’ve always said that Vase fixtures aren’t our priority here. The Vase is a competition we can’t hope to win – we’re not even in the running to win the league, so how can we expect to go deep in the Vase?
“I’m a realistic manager. The Vase helps us build our reputation and brings money into the club, but we’re just never going to win it.
“Winning the League Cup would be great and retaining the Lincs Senior Trophy is also very achievable.
“As for Saturday, maybe the game comes at a bad time for us. Two weeks earlier and we’d be on our great run, two weeks later and we’d have a few players back.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re capable of winning the game and we’d love to keep our run going. I’m just being realistic, we’ve got lots of players missing at the moment.”
Saturday’s hosts Godmanchester are flying high in the Thurlow Nunn top flight and go into the clash in second place, just three points behind leaders Histon.
They’ve lost just once at their Bearscroft Lane base in the league all season, something that Hayes feels makes them slight favourites.
“If it was at Carter’s Park I’d back us all day long,” said the Holbeach boss. “But it’ll be a hard match at their place.
“Godmanchester are a team I know a lot about and I’ve coached some of their players in the past.
“They’re always up there in the league every year, a bit like Holbeach. I have a lot of respect for them.
“If we go there and play our game, we’ve got every chance of winning. If we don’t turn up, you can be sure that they’ll punish us.
“We’ll go there with one of the best defences in the league and I know that we’ll be able to cause them problems.”
- See www.spaldingvoice.co.uk later on to find out how Holbeach got on against Wellingborough.
