Heanor Town 1 Holbeach United 1
Phil Barnes praised his depleted Holbeach United side as they picked up their first Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North point of the season with a 1-1 draw at Heanor Town on Saturday.
The Tigers, who were without key men Rick Drury, Nick Jackson, Stacy Cartwright, Fraser Bayliss and Will Barnes for the tricky trip, went ahead early on when Will Britton pounced on a short backpass and fired home his first goal for the club.
They were pegged back in the second half when Max Thornberry buried a Lewis Weaver free-kick, before both sides had men sent off ten minutes from time as Holbeach’s Kieran Rose was involved in a altercation with a Town player.
Despite the red card, Barnes was pleased to see his side battle well for a point and felt they were full value for a draw on the day.
“I didn’t want to make too much of the players we were missing prior to the game,” admitted the Tigers chief. “We didn’t want to make excuses before a ball was kicked.
“But the reality was that we knew we’d be without quite a few players.
“So, to go there a pick up our first point of the season was a really positive result for us. It’s nice for the lads too, there was a good feeling after the game and even the players who were missing were messaging and buzzing off the result.
“We’ll not get carried away with a draw, but we were very short and it showed the togetherness we have in the squad. I’m really pleased for (assistant manager) Dean Elston, too. He worked so hard over pre-season and to see this kind of performance is great for him.
“Will did well to get his goal, he raced onto the short pass back and finished nicely. We defended well from the front after that and also had a few chances to get a second.
“They equalised and then two players were sent off, although I’m not quite sure why, but we held on comfortably and a draw felt fair in the end.”
After defeats in the Emirates FA Cup and opening league game, the draw is Holbeach’s first positive result of the season.
Tigers: Stukins, Carter, Balding, Nicholson, Wilson, Rose, Eyett, Grigas, Elston, Keeble, Britton. Sub: K Jackson.
