Holwell Bounce Back!

Certainly after the performances of the past few weeks this was a very welcome return to form from Holwell. With a slightly changed line up there seemed greater punch and fight from the side that crossed the white line at 3pm on Saturday to the pleasure of the 66 strong crowd.
Manager Daws had decided to play Kyle Waddell up alongside Jay Kirkby in attack in a 4-4-2 formation and Waddell showed some good touches with effective knock downs and flick ons which allowed Kirkby to run on to and threaten the Blaby defence.
Blaby did their best to keep in the game early on but this Holwell side were well on top against opponents just above them in the league and Holwell could have been 3-0 up within 20 minutes if luck and sharper finishing had been on their side.
The first half was end to end with the experienced Andrew Morris always looking as though he would be the main threat from Blaby with exceptional cross field balls from left to right flank linking up with the impressive Tom Orton, however Holwell were alert to this and as the half went on the tactic from Blaby became predictable and easily dealt with.
Holwell maintained their dominance throughout the half and forced a series of free kicks and corners and on the stroke of half time their pressure paid off when Anthony Snelgrove stooped to head the opener on 45 mins, a great time to score and deserved after the work put in by the home side in the first half. HT 1-0
Holwell continued where they left off at half time coming out strong again for the second half. Blaby were conspiring to beat themselves with some poor touches early on, with all they could offer being easily handled by the Holwell back four. With the game looking beyond Blaby they defied the home crowd with a well taken free kick by Andrew Morris five minutes into the half.
This seemed to spur Holwell on and after another period of sustained pressure they were back in front on 60 mins when Ian Bitmead was brought down in the box and the clinical Hallows put Holwell back in the lead with a well placed penalty.
There was only one team in it now and Holwell continued to play the type of football the fans had been looking for over the past few weeks and on 64mins went further ahead when Michael Stevenson rose to meet sub Stan Wallis’s cross to make the score 3-1 to the home side.
Ricky North was brought on for the industrious Waddell and he continues to show some good touches up front though he missed with two good chances when put through on goal. However it wasn’t long before Holwell deservedly extended their lead to 4-1 when Kieron Foster, to the delight of the home crowd ghosted in on the blind side at the back post to score on 70 mins, when it looked as though the ball was going out for a goal kick.
With the game all but over Blaby did try to get back in the game and on 90mins with Holwell keeper Alex Brown having made two great quick fire saves the ball fell to Blaby sub Leon Doughty who fired in from close range to make the score more respectable.
However it was the home crowd that were more happy with their team’s performance, the hope is that Holwell have now turned the corner after a bad patch as they hope to pick up some much needed points over the next few weeks.

FT Holwell 4 – Blaby & Whetstone Athletic 2