Diss Town 1
Holbeach United 5
Another hat-trick from goal machine Lee Dube eased Holbeach United’s into the preliminary round of the FA Cup on Saturday – and kept their hopes of two bumper derbies alive.
The striker made it eight goals in three games – and back-to-back trebles – with strikes on 33, 53 and 78 minutes at Brewers Green Lane.
Ash Fuller (8) and Jake Duffy (42) were also on target for the Tigers, who will now face either UCL Premier Division rivals Boston Town or Walsham Le Willows in the next round on August 30.
Should they get past either of those two, a mouth-watering trip to King’s Lynn Town awaits. Clearly delighted with his side, co-boss John Chand said: “It was a really good performance.
“I think a lot of people doubted our ability to make a start like this, given all of the new signings we’ve made.
“If I’m honest, I never had any concerns. The calibre of player we’ve got here is high and nobody doubted their attitude and commitment.
“I do love the FA Cup, it’s one of those competitions that really gets me buzzing.
“I woke up with a smile on my face and there was a great atmosphere on the coach on the way down.
“The fans are enjoying themselves again too, which is always great to see.
“We’ve done our bit to keep the hope of derby games against Boston Town and King’s Lynn Town alive.”
On hat-trick hero Dube, the co-boss admits that he’s already running out of superlatives – and backed the former Oadby Town ace to be as prolfic as former favourite and two-time UCL Premier Division golden boot winner Andrew Tidswell was at Carter’s Parker during the title-winning season of 2013.
“What can I say?” added Chand. “Sometimes you get these strikers in the UCL that score a lot of goals but aren’t very grounded.
“Lee is very level-headed and is one of the nicest blokes I’ve met in football.He’s a great striker and if he stays for an entire season I’d back him to score as many as Andrew Tidswell did for us.”
Fuller got the ball rolling with a back-post finish early on, before Dube held off a defender to lash home his first goal just past the half hour.
Perhaps the pick of the goals saw Duffy make it three with a delightful curling effort into the top corner just before the break, only for Jordan Rocastle to reduce the arrears for Diss seconds later.
There was to be no comeback in the second half, though, as Dube put the tie to bed with a pair of typically clinical finishes.
His second of the afternoon was from close-range following an expert delivery from Lee Beeson.
Not content with a double, the prolific hitman rounded off his second hat-trick in four days with a drive across the keeper 13 minutes from time.
Having notched three times against Deeping Rangers last Wednesday (see page 39) and twice against Peterborough Northern Star on the opening day of the season, Dube is looking the signing of the summer.
Holbeach: Conroy, Allen, Gibson, Pinner, Spencer, Stevens (Parker), Beeson (Meade), Duffy, Dube, King (Treacher), Fuller. Not used: Lovelace, Warfield, Delahoy, Steadman.
Attendance: 108
