The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Ian Dunn insisted that results are now all that matter for Pinchbeck United as they continued their bid for a ChromaSport PDFL treble with a 3-1 Premier Division win over Peterborough ICA Sports on Saturday.
A first-half cracker from Liam Ogden was wiped out by a strike from the speedy Josh Smith at Knight Street, as fifth-placed ICA threatened to take points off the second-placed Knights.
But the free-scoring Ollie Maltby notched twice in the final 30 minutes – taking his tally for the season to an incredible 52 from 27 games – as the Knights stayed hot on the heels of leaders Peterborough Sports Reserves.
Player/boss Dunn, who had a hand the second of Maltby’s goals, admitted that his side weren’t at their absolute best on Saturday.
But he was delighted to see them grind out another win to keep the dream of a Premier Division, PFA Senior Cup and President Premier Shield treble very much alive.
Dunn said: “It was an OK performance without us pulling any trees up.
“At this stage of the season, it’s all about results – performances don’t bother me all that much.
“We battled well and ground the result out, which is all you can ask for.
“ICA came and tried to spoil things a little, putting ten men behind the ball and trying to hit us on the break.
“They have pace up front, so fair play to them – it was a tactic that worked for them at times.
“They pressed us well and it was hard to find space at times. But, as often happens in football, teams can’t keep that up for 90 minutes.
“It was 1-1 with half an hour to go and we did find it hard to play some football. But we took advantage of them tiring and Ollie did what Ollie does, took two chances very well.
“It’s ridiculous really, he just doesn’t seem to miss chances. At any level of football, that’s a quality you struggle to find.
“I know he gets spoken about a lot, but we’re very lucky to have him here.”
Pinchbeck now turn their attention to the PFA Senior Cup semi-final, with title rivals Peterborough Sports Reserves the visitors to Knight Street on Saturday (see page 39).
Pinchbeck: Martin, Gordan, Gardner, Brooks, Lawe, Bishop, Shipley, Wright, Panton, Ogden, Maltby.
Attendance: 41.
