HOLBEACH UTD 1
DESBOROUGH TOWN 3
Seb Hayes acknowledged that Holbeach United are currently enduring a sticky spell after seeing his title-chasing side crash 3-1 at home to Desborough Town on Saturday.
The fixture was hastily rearranged to be played at Carter’s Park, with a fallen tree rending Desborough’s Waterworks Field unplayable.
But the hosts were left wishing the game was postponed, as goals from Jason Turner (25), Danny White (40) and Taras Petranyuk (58) stunned the Tigers – and rendered Luke Avis’ strike as scant consolation.
The defeat doesn’t derail Holbeach’s hopes of winning the ChromaSport UCL Premier Division title, but Hayes admits that he was impressed by how his side responded to falling 3-0 down.
“Finishing was the difference between the sides,” said the Holbeach boss. “They probably had three or four chances and scored three, while we missed sitter after sitter.
“With what we created, we probably should have scored six.
“But did we deserve to win overall? No, you have to credit Desborough for being so clinical.
“It is what it is – we’re on a bad run. Every team will have them – the likes of Wisbech, Yaxley and Eynesbury have already had theirs this year.
“There was no way we’d get through the season without going through this kind of spell, even Peterborough Sports had a blip last year when they romped to the title.
“I’m certainly not going to make any excuses, there’s still a long way to go in this title race and we’re still involved.
“I believe in this group of players and have all the faith in the world in them.
“Over the season, we’ve been a bad side when we fall behind.
“But what impressed me on Saturday was that the lads never gave up and showed that spirit and desire to at least try and get back into the game.
“Nobody expected us to be in this title race and I was reluctant to say that we are, because we’re very early into our three year plan.
“I’m not panicking, though. There’s a long way to go and results will improve, I’m sure.”
Tigers: Drury, Tinkler (Davies), A Jackson, N Jackson, Braithwaite, Warfield (Zuerner), Avis, Brooks, Sanders (Leckie), Bird, Smith. Not used: Harker, Edey.
