Melton Town 3 Holbeach United 0
Danny Clifton felt he could take plenty of positives from Holbeach United’s 3-0 defeat at Melton Town on Saturday.
The rock-bottom Tigers lost for the 24th time in 27 Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North games as their impending relegation drew closer, with Will Bestwick (24), Cameron Smith (40) and Robbie Parsons (77) finding the net for the hosts.
Holbeach, who have now lost eight games on the spin, were coming off the back of a huge 9-0 loss at Loughborough Students the previous Tuesday night – with Clifton delighted that ten of the squad from that humbling loss still reported for duty at Melton.
The Tigers’ boss was disappointed that all three goals came from individual errors, but insisted that he saw a few strong individual performances that bode well for next season.
“One of the benefits of having a young squad is that they move on quickly,” said Clifton. “I wondered if a few lads would pull out after the 9-0.
“But we took a squad of 15, including ten of the lads involved at Loughborough. That was encouraging – and the 9-0 wasn’t mentioned once.
“We went there with a plan to try and frustrate Melton against the wind in the first half, then do our attacking in the second half with the wind at our backs.
“It was going nicely at 1-0 down, but the second goal before half-time made life difficult.
“We did a little better in the second half, but their third goal was an absolute gift from us.
“Our goal is to look at these players on an individual basis more than as a team at this point – and a few stood out.
“Kyle Compton came in and led the line really well, winning headers and holding up the ball well. He got us up the pitch nicely.
“Sam Harris also had his first 90 minutes in defence and played very well. He brought a lot of what he’s capable of to the table and brought what he’s learned so far at this level into his performance.
“Let’s be honest, this squad will look very different next season and all we can do is try to determine which players are capable of helping us become a winning team.”
After the defeat, Holbeach are now 15 points from safety with seven games left, with Clifton accepting that there seems no way that his side won’t finish bottom of the pile – potentially without winning a game.
Tigers: Blake, Nicholson, Chaudhari, Harris, Nuttell, Carter, Dalliday, Baughan, Compton, Gow, Wilson. Subs used: Camfield, Kokoua. Not used: Warrington, Berezowski.
Attendance: 144.
