Holbeach United beat Wivenhoe in the Thurlow Nunn League

Holbeach won the opening round of back-to-back matches with Wivenhoe Town after victory in Saturday's Thurlow Nunn League match.

The Tigers returned triumphant from their trip to Essex after a 3-1 away win in the Division One North match.

Pat Kacirek, Denis Coelho and Jamal Shenille netted for Holbeach who face the Dragons in a return match at Carter's Park this weekend.

They had gone into the game after a solid showing against Harrowby United in the Lincolnshire Senior Trophy in midweek with manager Callum Lawe again pleased with the performance of his charges.

He said: "Our game-plan worked, the boys put in a great shift and we took our goals well.

"We dealt with their threat and, as the game went on, we got better and better at doing the things that we wanted to do.

"We wanted a minimum of four points from these two games against Wivenhoe so, after taking three on the road, we've got to make sure that we get the business done at home against them this weekend."

The opening period had finished goalless with Holbeach making a change at half-time by bringing on Kacirek for Marley Hamilton.

The move paid dividends with Kacirek scoring the opening goal after Louie Garner, Alex Greenfield and Dan Roberts had linked well.

Kacirek then turned provider for the second goal as he beat two players before crossing for Coelho to convert.

Although Wivenhoe pulled a goal back through Euan Shepherd, Holbeach had the final say when Shenille slotted home after a swift break.

Shenille had also started on the bench along with Sam Carter and Jordan Oldham as Holbeach are starting to create a healthy competition for places.

Lawe added: "We've done a bit of business recently by bringing in a couple of players and competition is really good now.

"We're no longer in a position where players are guaranteed a start and we were also missing Josh Williams and Oli Williams through injury and suspension.

"It was about taking the performance from last Tuesday into Saturday and the big thing we said at the weekend to the boys is that now there's no excuses for us not to be competing in games.

"We have a competitive and strong squad now so we have to take responsibility now if we're not getting results."

The victory on Saturday moved Holbeach up to 11th in the 20-team division.