The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Needham United u23s 1
Holbeach United 0
Holbeach United are feeling as if they have been left in limbo after a lack of support from the Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League.
The Tigers have been ordered to replay their match against Harwich & Parkeston after a refereeing error during their 4-2 win on the Essex coast on March 4.
Harvey Robertson was booked twice but not dismissed. The error was discovered after the match and, although manager Danny Clifton accepted the mistake was a human error, he feels his club is suffering.
“We sought advice from the Lincolnshire FA and they admitted they’d not come across anything like it. The league have told us we have to replay the match but have offered only FA Cup travel rates as compensation. That works out at about £230, much less than it will actually cost us, let alone the extra wages.
“We accept a mistake was made but simply cannot travel all that way to replay the match. The club had a meeting on Monday and backed me, stating that we will forfeit the match and take whatever fine we get. However, when I emailed the league, they said if we failed to turn up, we would be fined and have to replay the match in midweek. They just didn’t read the case I had made.
“Two assistants and two assessors all missed it so why do we feel as if we are being punished?”
The match has been rescheduled for April 1 and Clifton said: “That was a free weekend so we’ve got six players who have made plans to be away.
“We won’t be going and will just have to see what the league eventually decides to do about it.”
Clifton admitted his team’s play-off chances had probably ended with a 1-0 defeat at Needham Market on Saturday.
“If we’d won, we’d still be in with a chance but realistically that’s gone. We just weren’t good enough to break them down.
“After they had a man sent off, they sat with a back six and a bank of four to stifle us and it worked. We just ran out of ideas.”
Tigers: Rigby, Cook, Nicholson, Oldham, Henderson, Carter, Barnes, Millinson, Davies, Frost, Yambasu. Subs: Masnita, Robertson, Bilicz, Ibeneme, Clifton.
Attendance: 47.
