Harborough Town 0
Holbeach United 2
Holbeach United began life after Seb Hayes with an impressive 2-0 victory at Harborough Town on Saturday.
An impressive first-half showing at The HTFC Community Ground saw Spencer Tinkler and Will Bird grab goals that turned out to be enough for all three points for the Tigers.
The hosts came back into it after the break, but Holbeach held on for their first Future Lions UCL Premier Division victory under the caretaker charge of Tim Cole and Adam Jackson.
Former Holbeach Sunday chief Cole, who was assistant manager under Hayes, admitted that the game was a steep learning curve.
But he revealed that a timely text message from the former boss – who resigned last week – helped settle his nerves as he praised the team from delivering an “unreal” performance.
Cole said: “It goes without saying, but managing a game in the UCL is much different to managing in the Sunday League.
“I’m fortunate to have learned a lot from Seb (Hayes), but I’m a long way from experienced enough at this level. Likewise, Adam has years of playing experience but not so much on the coaching side.
“It was nice to receive a text from Seb in the morning, telling us we were ready to step up.
“The message from us was simple; stick together and play your own game.
“To be honest, the first 45 minutes was unbelievable. We could easily have been five or six goals up and the performance was unreal.
“We decided to bring Kieran Hamilton back into the fold as we felt that we’d been lacking a bit of pace. He was struggling for fitness, but he had a great game.
“We tried to play out from the back on the 4G pitch and, to be honest, we felt like Harborough would be favourites on that surface.
“But I can’t praise the lads enough, it was a great performance.”
The victory moved Holbeach up to fourth on Saturday, buy they are now fifth in the table after Tuesday’s results – some 15 points behind leaders Daventry Town and eight points off Rugby Town in second spot.
Tigers: Drury, Whyatt, T Smith, Braithwaite, Clay, Tinkler, Jackson, Hamilton (Clarke 65), Bird, Tricks (Fieldhouse 70), B Smith. Not used: Harker.
Attendance: 98.
