The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
By JAMES CLARK
Holbeach United under-15 Yellow had a once in a lifetime opportunity last week when they took a trip to Holland to battle against two Dutch sides.
The Tigers, who have been managed by Stuart Clark for the past seven years, have just enjoyed an amazing season.
Clark and his assistant manager Dean Elston led the side to a runner-up spot in Peterborough and District Junior Alliance Division One table and two cup finals.
The boys in yellow were unlucky to lose their League Cup final 8-7 on penalties.
But the Tigers defied the odds in their PFA Cup final, going against a strong Peterborough Sports side who had pipped them to number one spot in the league. Holbeach only had 11 men, but managed to overcome the champions in a 2-1 win to take the silverware home.
Therefore, the two managers felt that the next step for their side was to go abroad to play two Dutch sides to understand a different style of football.
Holbeach played their first game against SV Spakenburg – a side whose men’s team had dominated the Derde Divisie tier 4 and have been promoted into the Tweede Divisie tier 3 after winning 22 of their 34 matches.
The two sides played in hot conditions, but the Tigers dominated with a 4-0 win thanks to goals from captain James Clark (2), Ethan Kemball and Harvey Wirkowski.
After a solid win against Spakenburg, Holbeach marched into their final game against VV Altius. Goals from Clark (2) Kemball, Jordan Elston and Jack Cunnington secured them a big 5-0 win to end the tour on a high.
Their reward for two big wins was a trip to the Johan Cruijff Arena, the home of Ajax Amsterdam.
Boss Stuart Clark said: “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never got the chance. It has been an amazing week for all of us, and the hard work and effort from the squad to grind out two convincing wins against tough opposition has capped off what has been a great experience for us all”.
