Holbeach United 3
Huntingdon Town 1
A 3-1 win over the whipping boys may not seem like a big deal, but Saturday may have been the day Holbeach United’s ChromaSport UCL Premier Division title bid turned in their favour.
While goals from Andrew Tidswell (32), Josh Ford (49) and Jake Clitheroe (63) were helping the Tigers defeat Huntingdon Town 3-1 at Carter’s Park, results were going their way elsewhere.
Leaders Kempston Rovers could only manage a 0-0 draw with mid-table Harborough Town, while second-placed Leicester Nirvana slipped up 2-1 at home to Wisbech Town.
That leaves Holbeach fourth, 14 points behind Kempston with three games in hand and a match against them to come.
Tom Roberts’ side also have two games against Nirvana to play, so their title hopes still remain in their own hands – but the player/boss admits performances will have to improve.
Roberts, who played in goal on Saturday after regular number one Ricky Drury saw his partner Leanne go into labour on the morning of the match, was happy with the result after a rocky run of results.
He saw shoots of improvement performance-wise, but is still looking for more from the talented Tigers squad.
“Obviously I’m happy with the result,” said the Holbeach chief. “Was it our best performance? No.
“At this stage the result is the most important thing for us. We’ve still got a bit of a confidence issue, but the performance was improved.
“We could have scored a few more, but it was a good weekend to win with the results elsewhere.
“For me, it made no difference being out on the field – sometimes it’s easier.
“The other positives were the returns of Aaron Eyett and Stacy Cartwright, while Jack Smith came in and did a job for us. We’ll take it game by game with him.”
Player/assistant boss Tidswell fired the Tigers ahead from a Ford cross on Saturday, but they were pegged back by an equaliser from Jordan Brockett (44) just before the break.
The roles then reversed in the second period as Tidswell set up Holbeach’s second for Ford to bury, then Clitheroe secured the points from close range.
Eyett and Cartwright both returned as substitutes, while Smith – a former UCL title winner under John Chand – played a solid 90 minutes at centre back.
All three could be involved as Holbeach make the trip to Wellingborough Town on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
Skipper Jamie Stevens should also return from suspension.
Tigers: Roberts, Worthington, Ward, Dougill (Russon), Jack A Smith, Warfield, Coughlan (Eyett), Tidswell, Ford, Clitheroe, Jack Smith (Cartwright).
Attendance: 90.
