Holwell stun Arnold with late winner!

Arnold Town 2 -- Howell Sports 3

Holwell pulled of a great result on Tuesday by winning away at Arnold Town, twice having to come from behind before Graham Keast scored in the 92nd minute to take the points.

It didn’t start too well for Holwell. The class and organised play of Arnold hard for Holwell to keep up with in the early stages, and it didn’t take too long before Holwell were behind when a poor header out of defence saw the ball headed back into the path of pacey forward Simon Wilkinson who punished Holwell with a clinical strike to put the home side one up on 13mins.

Holwell dusted themselves down and started to get to grips and on 18mins Keast did well down the left before sending the ball into the middle but Bettinson failed to connect when the chance looked good.

Arnold had the ball in the net again on 25mins but lucky for the static away defence it was ruled offside and Holwell were let off. On 36mins a loose ball by Keast nearly allowed Arnold in again when Wilkinson pounced, passed to Royes who beat Cragg in goal only to see his effort come back off the inside of the post and into Cragg’s arms.

But Holwell were giving as good as they got and were back in the game on 35mins as a long ball into the home defence was cleared only as far as Chris Hibbitt on the edge of the box and he made no mistake with his shot to bring the visitors level.

The joy was short lived however as within a minute Arnold went back in front. Again Wilkinson punished the away defence after good work on the left the ball was sent in to the middle and quickest to react was Wilkinson to put the home side in front again. HT 2-1

The start of the second half was pretty even with end to end play but gradually Holwell were beginning to break down the home midfield and win ball higher up the park. With Bettinson and Mooney closing down defenders Holwell looked as though they were beginning to take control. On 55mins Hibbitt nearly scored again from the edge of the box but this time his shot skimmed the top of the cross bar. On 65mins Bettinson came close at the near post but Keeper Walker smothered his effort but Holwell were certainly the better of the two now with Arnold running out of ideas up front.

Still pressing higher up the park Arnold were all at sea by now and on 69mins Holwell equalised when Scott Mooney did well to control the ball in the box and smash a shot passed Lance Walker in goal.

The visiting fans were beginning to think Holwell could nick this and it did look as though Holwell were well and truly on top but with time running out a draw looked likely.

As the final whistle approached and the ref added time on for reasons only he knew, Holwell won a throw on the right taken by Foster and knocked back to him. He sent in a telling cross which was cleared out only as far as Graham Keast on the left of the eighteen yard box and he steadied himself before slamming the winner home on 90 +2mins, stunning the home crowd and players (who had got off to a good start on Saturday with a 5-1 win at home to Ayletsone Park).

But it was Holwell who went home with all three points setting themselves up nicely for the FA Cup match at Basford United on Saturday.

The club hopes a sizeable following will come to spur on this team of Melton lads and would really appreciate the support at Basford.