Ford saves the day for Holbeach

Holbeach United were saved thanks to a 96th minute winner from Josh Ford as they drew 1-1 away to Desborough in the United Counties League fixture.

Tigers boss Phil Barnes was largely optimistic following the draw and felt there was reason to be impressed with the performance.

“We asked the lads to continue the way we’ve been playing for this fixture,” Barnes explained.

“We got caught on the counter in the first half and then they started to time-waste and slow the game down as well.

“But Desborough is a hard place to go to and we struggled to create any chances of any note.

“We huffed and puffed for most of the game, but there was no continuation in the game and that really did hurt us.

“All credit to the lads though, as we kept going right until the very end and it was the least we deserved from the game, and it showed you what Josh (Ford) is all about as he held off the defender and slotted it underneath the keeper.

“We had Lewie Harker who made the step up playing a full 90 minutes and we also had Josh Balding come on and play 20 minutes for us, showing that we have got depth.”

The Tigers now have a long lay-off until they host Sleaford Town next Wednesday, October 14.

Barnes was thankful for the break, saying: “We can now get a few key players back, hopefully we’ll have Jordan Elston and Willsy (Will Barnes) back for that game.

“We also had Frewy (Michael Frew) making his return to the team coming on against Desborough so that will be a massive positive for us.

“But, the only downside is that we had Jonny (Lockie) injured with a bad looking ankle problem.

“It doesn’t look too good for us at the moment and he’s going for a scan on it, so we’ll know more soon.

“We don’t play for ten days now and that game will be against Sleaford and we’ll be hoping to get maximum points from that fixture.”