NORTHAMPTON SILEBY RANGERS 1
HOLBEACH UTD 7
Buzzing boss Seb Hayes saluted an “unbelievable” opening 25 minutes as Holbeach United smashed hosts Northampton Sileby Rangers 7-1 on Saturday.
Mitch Griffiths helped himself to a hat-trick on his return to the Tigers’ first team following injury, while top scorer Lewis Leckie took his tally for the season to 18 with another double as the visitors led 4-0 at half-time.
The unselfish Leckie actually passed up the chance for a treble of his own when rounding the keeper and squaring for George Zuerner to tap home, while new loan signing Jacob Fenton rounded off the rout at Fernie Fields.
Striker Fenton is on a youth experience loan from Lincoln City – and made an instant impact.
Ibrahim Akandi did pull one back for the relegation-threatened hosts, but it failed to take the gloss off the Tigers’ joint biggest victory of the season so far.
Hayes said: “They’ve had a couple of heavy defeats recently – but, in fairness, the lads were absolutely superb.
“The first 25 minutes or so were absolutely unbelievable from us. We played some great football and got the ball down on the deck, which Sileby’s excellent surface allows.
“It was 3-0 after nine minutes and was one of those performances that I think we’ve been threatening to produce in the league for a while now.
“The lads were on it from the first minute and absolutely everything came to fruition for us at last.
“The injuries and suspensions we’ve had over the past few months have been pretty unprecedented, but it’s testament to the group that we’re able to produce a performance like this.
“It’s now the time of year when teams start falling away from the title race and going out of cups.
“Our selection problems could have seen our season fall apart, but we’re still well-positioned.
“Are we in the title race? All I’m focusing on is the cups and being in the top five come the end of the season.
“If we’re still in this position come the final ten games of the season, I’ll have to admit we’ve got a chance.
“Nobody fancied us at the start of the season, so it’s pleasing to see us faring so well.
“We’ve blooded plenty of youngsters this year as the club is rebuilding itself. The likes of Lewie Harker and Dan Dougill have made their positions their own, while Callum Davies is showing what he’s capable of too.
“We’re on a great run, but doing well in the cups and getting in the top five remains the aim.”
Next up for Holbeach is a trip to rivals Boston Town on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
The Poachers lost 2-1 at home to basement side Oadby Town on Saturday and have only won once at home in the league all season.
Hayes added: “It’s a local derby, so we’ll not be taking them lightly despite Saturday’s results.
“We know that they love beating Holbeach and they’ll be bang up for the game as always.
“I think they’ll have a point to prove after losing at our place and we’ll need to have the right mindset if we want to beat them again.”
Tigers: Drury, Harker, N Jackson, Tinkler, Braithwaite, Smith (Avis 55), Zuerner, Griffiths (Davies 60), Dougill, Leckie (Fenton 60), Bird.
Attendance: 34.
