The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Holbeach United 1
Worcester City 1
An amazing injury-time volley from keeper Ricky Drury earned Holbeach United a memorable Emirates FA Cup draw with higher-graded Worcester City on Saturday.
The Tigers looked to be heading out of the competition when former Premier League striker Lee Hughes headed the Vanarama National League North side ahead on 70 minutes.
But Drury, who had earlier made a stunning save to deny Hughes, blew the roof off a packed Carter’s Park when he met an Andrew Tidswell free-kick and steered a flying bicycle kick into the corner in the 92nd minute of the second round qualifying tie.
The Holbeach bench actually wanted Drury to take the set piece, but he ignored them to score one of the club’s most memorable goals in recent history.
It was a brilliant day all round for the Tigers, who more than held their own against a side that are currently three levels higher than them in the non-league ladder. The duo will replay on Tuesday night, meaning it’ll be a mammoth 260-mile midweek round-trip for the UCL Premier Division side.
Holbeach boss Darren Jarvis was full of superlatives for everyone involved with the club, but reserved special praise for his heroic keeper.
“Where do I begin after that,” said the Tigers chief. “First of all, I just think that it’s a brilliant day for the club as a whole.
“It’s not just what happens in the changing room or on the pitch, the whole effort from everyone involved with the club has been superb.
“As far as the football is concerned, I don’t think anybody would deny that we deserved the draw. The opposition were very gallant and said a draw was the least we deserved, which was great to hear.
“And I do think that anybody else watching the game would agree that a draw was the right result.
“We did ourselves proud. The workrate and commitment to get back into the game was incredible.
“Special players make special moments in games and Ricky Drury has certainly done that. The fact he’s scored a goal with an overhead kick is amazing.
“But his save from Lee Hughes was just as incredible. Hughes will have forced many keepers into many saves over the years, but I doubt many will equal that one.
“I’ve seen keepers score in non-league and at the top level, but not many as good as that and under such dramatic circumstances.
“It’s a stand-out day for the club and we’ll enjoy it. But what we now have to do – very quickly – is get ready for the replay.
“There’s now a big difference for us going into that replay. Before today, our players wondered if they get a result.
“Now we know that we can – and we’ll go there looking to win. I’m sure Worcester will give us the respect we deserve after this too.”
In front of close to 400 fans at Carter’s Park, Holbeach never once looked out of their depth.
The opening exchanges were nip and tuck, with Worcester’s Connor Gater testing Drury with an acrobatic volley from Hughes’ cross and Holbeach skipper Gary King seeing a back-post strike blocked following a great run and cross from Chris Ward.
Some top notch defending from Stacy Cartwright then snuffed out a dangerous break from the speedy Ashley Vincent, who had raced past two home defenders.
Other than that, there was nothing between the two teams as they went in at half time locked together at 0-0.
Jordan Thomas lashed a speculative volley just wide early in the second period, but Worcester were much-improved after the interval and went on to enjoy their only sustained period of pressure.
That spell culminated with Drury pulling off a wonderful point-blank save to turn Hughes’ header around the post. The ex-West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City striker – who once commanded a £5m transfer fee – couldn’t believe how good the stop was, and showed his appreciation to the Tigers’ number one almost immediately.
Then came a huge moment in the match, as Thomas latched onto a ball played through the middle and raced through one-on-one with keeper James Severn. He had strike partner Josh Ford square for a tap in, but instead opted to go for glory – and Severn denied him with a low stop.
It looked like being the turning point in the game, as Worcester went up the other end minutes later and took the lead through Hughes’ clinical back-post header.
The lead was almost doubled ten minutes from time, but Drury got down low to palm out Shaun Harrad’s low effort from a corner.
You then got the feeling it wasn’t going to be Holbeach’s day, as midfield powerhouse Ollie Pinner thought he’d levelled the tie with a monstrous header with six minutes to play.
The flag was up for offside, though, leaving all on the home bench deflated.
That was, until the second minute of added time. A free kick just inside the Worcester half was taken by Tidswell and keeper Drury, up as a last throw of the dice, smashed the most memorable of volleys into the net to trigger a pitch invasion at Carter’s Park.
It felt like a win, but Holbeach will hope to go one better in Tuesday’s replay.
Tigers: Drury, Worthington, Ward (Gosling 83), Pinner (Bull 85), Warfield, Cartwright, King, Tidswell, Ford, Thomas, Gale (Clitheroe 75). Not used: Roberts, Dougill.
