Holbeach United 9
Harrowby United 0
Both Josh Ford and Spencer Tinkler smashed hat-tricks as Holbeach United ended their five-game losing streak in style by hammering Harrowby United 9-0 on Saturday.
Frontman Ford gave the Tigers the lead on just 38 seconds of the ChromaSport UCL Premier Division clash at Carter’s Park, then doubled his money two minutes later before Ollie Pinner walloped home a stunning volley to make it three on 15 minutes.
Ford then clipped home his third (37) and Dan Jenkins buried his first goal for the club (45) to make it 5-0 at the break, with the three points already assured.
It was exhibition stuff from Holbeach after the interval, with Tinkler rifling home his first (52) and then waltzing through the home defence to tuck home his second (63) and his team’s seventh.
Not done there, midfielder Tinkler buried his third on 65 minutes to complete his first Holbeach hat-trick, setting the stage for Zak Munton to round off the rout with an excellent finish for his maiden Tigers strike five minutes from time.
Jubilant boss Seb Hayes admitted he was “over the moon” with the victory against the 21st-placed Arrows, putting the performance down to a morale-boosting team night out last weekend.
But he refused to get too carried away with the result against a side that has now conceded 38 goals in their last six games.
Hayes said: “It doesn’t really get any better than 9-0. The really good thing is that we’ve got key players scoring goals, too.
“It’s also great that Zak Munton, who has bags of potential, got his first goal.
“What I believe helped turn things is the game being called off last week. We all got together as a group and went on a night out to the dogs.
“We had a good chat and got things sorted. It seems to have lifted the doom and gloom, as today we turned up a different team.
“The lads have been training brilliantly and we’ve also brought the likes of Jake Clitheroe, Mitch Griffiths and Dan Jenkins into the club and Jamie Stevens is nearly back.
“You look at the squad and, within the space of two weeks, it’s changed massively.
“I know results have been bad lately, but I’ve been saying for a while that we need to be patient and let me get a squad together.
“I think we’ve got that now, so people can judge me on that.
“Obviously, I’m not going to get carried away with this win – but there are loads of positives.
“The main one is the belief and honesty from the players in the changing room.
“We’ve showed everybody that we can stick together through a bad run. If nobody believed in the cause, eight or nine would have turned up for the team night out. We had 19 people there.
“I know the lads are behind me – and I’m very much behind the players.
“This could be the start of a good run for us, but we can’t get over-confident.
“No disrespect to Harrowby, but they’ve taken a few spankings lately. But for us, an out-of-form side, to go and score nine goals is no mean feat. We did that and we like a side that was in the top five and on form.
“The lads did everything I asked of them. We looked dangerous in open play and from set pieces and we defended really well.
“I feel it’s the first small steps of our recovery to get back to where I believe we belong. I’m over the moon.”
With new signing Mitch Griffiths named on the bench and Harrowby in even worse form than the Tigers, hopes were high that Holbeach would finally end their wretched run.
The early omens mirrored that belief, with the Tigers absolutely rampant from the off.
Indeed, Ford expertly dispatched the first chance of the game into the top corner, via the woodwork, on just 38 seconds.
The same player was afforded the freedom of Carter’s Park to round keeper Chris Bennett and almost reluctantly tap home his second with the clock on 2.28 minutes.
He had two chances to complete a rapid treble before Pinner lashed home the third with what was the goal of the game. Not known for his goal-scoring prowess, Pinner buried a truly sensational 25-yard volley into the top corner – giving the keeper no chance.
It was 4-0 when Ford raced through the middle and clipped a clever finish over the bemused Bennett to complete a second hat-trick against the Arrows this season.
Right back Jenkins, who had a very good game, completed the first-half scoring with a crisp back-post strike that went through the visiting keeper.
Holbeach refused to take their foot off the gas in the second period, showing no mercy to their hapless opponents.
Tinkler’s first was a powerful effort, lashing the ball home after a Ford cross was kindly deflected into his path on the edge of the box.
His second was the pick of his second-half hat-trick, though. Tinkler picked up the ball some way from goal and glided past a couple of tackles before using the run of Ford to fashion a pocket of space – which he galloped into and then tucked an effort past Bennett.
Amazingly, Tinkler then completed a 13-minute treble when he planted another strong strike into the net in the aftermath of a scramble from a corner.
There was still time for the talented Munton to grab his first Tigers goal – and how. From what looked a challenging angle on the right, the ex-Bourne Town ace somehow fired an effort into the top left corner via the woodwork.
The success solidifies Holbeach’s hold on seventh place – and offered a glimpse of what the rest of the season could hold under Hayes.
Tigers: Drury, Jenkins (Walton 75), Cartwright, Madigan, N Jackson, Warfied, Tinkler, Clitheroe, Ford, Treacher (Munton 34), Pinner (Griffiths 60). Not used: Muldrew.
