Roberts reveals that ‘Zouma-like fall’ caused Jackson injury in abandoned Holbeach clash

Rothwell Corinthians 4
Holbeach United 1
(match abandoned on 73 mins)

A suspected torn calf suffered by Holbeach United left back Nick Jackson caused Tuesday’s night’s ChromaSport UCL Premier Division game at Rothwell Corinthians to be abandoned on 73 minutes.

The Tigers were trailing 4-1 at the time, but it is expected that the game will now have to be replayed.

In-form striker Sean Coughlan fired Holbeach ahead on 12 minutes, only for strikes from Ryan Goodband (21) and Kalon Peniasko (45) gave the hosts a 2-1 half time lead.

Two further Rothwell goals piled on the misery for the Tigers, before Jackson fell awkwardly and was left in agony on the floor. With a serious injury suspected, the referee decided to abandon the game with around 20 minutes to play, leaving the home side seething.

Tigers player/boss Roberts compared Jackson’s fall to the incident that left Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma with a serious knee injury in a recent game against Manchester United – and was adamant that everything that happened before it is now irrelevant.

He said: “It was a night of no positives for us. Nick’s injury capped what was a poor performance.

“But I’m not interested in talking about the game, it’s all about Nick making a speedy recovery.

“It was a bad one to watch, his ankle planted badly and it looked very much like the Zouma one.

“We’d like to wish him a speedy recovery and thank Rothwell for helping him.

“I’m not sure what happens now, but there was still a good 20 minutes left. It’s out of my hands, so we move on.”

Next up for the Tigers is a Carter’s Park clash with basement boys Huntingdon Town on Saturday (3pm).

And, while Roberts chose to go easy on his side following Tuesday night’s debacle, player/assistant boss Andrew Tidswell wants to see a change of attitude from his charges this weekend.

Tidswell added: “Recent performances have been unacceptable. Conceding three or four goals a game isn’t good enough.

“We need to grow up and change our mentality. It’s time the lads stood up to be counted.

“When you’ve got a young side like we have, you tend to blame them for results. But it’s the senior players that need to have a long, long look at themselves.”

Huntingdon will arrive at Carter’s Park with a record of two wins from 33 league games and a goal difference of -119.