The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Danny Hussey has called on his Holbeach United players to up their game ahead of Monday’s Future Lions UCL Knockout Cup final.
The Tigers go into the Kiln Park clash (3pm) with Premier Division champions Daventry Town as massive underdogs, having finished a hefty 25 points behind them in the table.
Boss Hussey berated his side’s “poor attitude” during their 0-0 draw at Leicester Nirvana on Saturday (see page 36) but admits that they could easily have beaten Daventry in the 2-1 league defeat at Carter’s Park back in April.
But he expects Holbeach to be better in the final played at Raunds Town and admits that winning his first trophy as a first team manager would be a proud moment.
“It’s a one-off game,” said the Tigers chief. “We’ve proven that we can match them in that kind of situation.
“But Daventry are champions for a reason, the got lots more points than anyone. They are obviously a better side than us, we go into the final as massive underdogs.
“From my point of view, it’s nice to be in a final. When I got here, we had two semi-finals, so it’s good for the club that we made one.
“When we played them in the league, we matched them and the score could have gone the other way. Over 90 minutes you never know what will happen.
“They are a very good side, but we’ve got a chance. I need the lads to give it all they’ve got and arrive with the correct attitude.
“We’ve got the chance to win a trophy and make everyone at the club proud.
“I’ll say this, though. If we play like we did at Nirvana last week, we’ll get beaten easily.
“That wasn’t good enough and can’t happen again on Monday.”
Hussey is without key defender Joe Braithwaite and cup tied striker Jonny Lockie for the final, admitting that he may have to put “square pegs in round holes”.
Daventry, who are only in the final because Deeping Rangers fielded an ineligible player in the semi-final, won more games (29), gained more points (94) scored more goals (91) and conceded less goals (29) than anybody in the UCL Premier Division.
They did, however, lose 1-0 at Deeping on the final day of the season last Saturday.
