By Tommo Newton
Holbeach United 2
Eynesbury Rovers 1
Holbeach returned to the summit of the UCL Premier Division table on Saturday with a narrow 2-1 victory against a Eynesbury side that joint boss Graham Drury rated as ‘one of the best teams they’ve played this season’.
Two Jamie Clarke (31 & 69) goals, either side of a Joey Nicholson (41) equaliser, were enough to secure all three points for the Tigers on a day that saw them climb above Yaxley and reclaim the number one spot.
With the Cuckoos beaten 2-0 at Wisbech Town and fellow title rivals Huntingdon Town also losing their 100 per cent record with a 2-2 draw against Sleaford, it was a decent day all-round for Drury and John Chand’s side.
Co-boss Drury said: “I thought Eynesbury were very decent. They were well-drilled and and tried to stop us playing. They’ll cause teams problems and are one of the better sides we’ve faced this season.
“It was our strikers that made the difference. Jamie Clarke is a big player and he was playing with a new strike partner in Aaron Preston.
“He scored two cracking goals for us and really made the difference on the day.”
Eynesbury co-boss Matt Plumb admitted that he would have taken a 2-1 loss before the game. He added: “We had several influential players missing, but I thought we could have possibly got something out of the game.
“We more than matched Holbeach in terms of footballing ability, but their superior strength ultimately saw them come out on top.”
The two sides were evenly matched during the opening exchanges at Carter’s Park, with most of the Tigers’ early chances being thwarted by the flag of the assistant referee.
As both sides started to settle, Holbeach began to take hold of the game, looking sharper than Eynesbury all over the pitch.
A delightful piece of link-up play between Clarke and Craig Parker culminated in debutant Aaron Preston – signed from Blaby and Whetstone on Thursday – chipping Adam Lawrence in the Eynesbury goal.
However, his superb effort was ruled out as he was adjudged to have strayed offside.
Clarke once again found Preston just a few minutes later with a cross to the back post, but his header fell just wide of the post.
It took until the half hour mark for Eynesbury to muster a clear goal scoring opportunity. James Freshwater received the ball inside the box from Alex Marsh and lifted the ball over Nick Conroy, but Jonny Allen was on hand to head the ball behind.
The resulting corner fell to Nathan Field at the back post, but it was travelling too fast for the Rovers defender to control and his side footed effort cleared the Holbeach crossbar by some way.
Just two minutes later the hosts took the lead through striker Clarke. An Eynesbury defender headed a free kick to the feet of Parker, whose miss-struck shot found its way to the veteran marksman, who controlled the ball inside the area and rifled it past Adam Lawrence.
Rain then began to pour down as the Tigers’ half then took a turn for the worse when Eynesbury equalised through Nicholson and Parker was forced off with an injury inflicted by a miss-timed Nathan Field challenge.
The goal was a sloppy one, as Nicholson found space inside the area and cut inside onto his left foot before curling the ball into Conroy’s bottom corner three minutes before the interval.
The second half saw Holbeach re-affirm their strong hold on the game, with Jake Duffy beginning to dominate the midfield area.
In the 56th minute Duffy poked the ball through to substitute Tommy Treacher, but the striker’s sliced effort ran out of play for a goal kick.
The dangerous Lee Dube was introduced to the game in the 63rd minute and started to link up well with Jamie Clarke, who, four minutes later put the Tigers ahead for the second time.
Clarke found himself unmarked inside the box and executed a very clever fake shot which took two desperately back-tracking Eynesbury defenders out of the game, before side footing the ball under the keeper to re-establish the lead.
Top scorer Dube then linked up with Duffy as he set the ball back to the midfielder to unleash a fierce drive was well held by Lawrence.
A minute later Duffy tried an audacious lob from 40 yards after he spotted Lawrence of his line, but the keeper backtracked and managed to catch the ball just under the bar to deny the midfielder a certain goal of the season contender.
Eynesbury’s last chance of the game fell to Alex Marsh, his curled effort ended up just wide of the post with a few minutes remaining as they failed to pinch a point.
Tigers: Conroy, Allen, Gibson, Pinner (Dube 63) Spencer, Stevens, Steadman, Duffy, Preston, Clarke (King 81) Parker (Treacher 46) Not used: Drury, Lovelace.
Attendance: 96
