Holbeach United are one of the sides we first met after our 1981 promotion to the United Counties League Premier Division. And it’s a long, long time since Boro’ last rattled The Tigers’ cage. That’s enough water under the bridge to have Noah reaching for the keys to his floating zoo once again. Though we met them on nine occasions in total, by heavens there were some hefty and bruising blows landed on both sides.
With the exception of a hugely rare draw at their gaff in 1983, it was accepted that we’d win comprehensively to nil at our place and they’d do the same at theirs. After six league meetings and another in the United Counties League cup, the head-to-head was all square: three wins apiece and that draw, with 10 goals to us and nine to them. After we left the UCL behind in 1984, we still couldn’t avoid them – paired with them in both the FA Cup and FA Vase preliminary rounds.
Our 1984-5 FA Cup Preliminary Round tie ended in a barnstorming 8-0 win for us. We put five past them that season in the FA Vase too. You can still find ’em in the UCL Premier Division as it goes; winning the title three times since the first in the 1989-90 campaign. Mind you, the 2021-2 campaign was a disaster. They finished bottom of the Premier Division North with no wins and four draws from their 34 fixtures. In terms of goals, there were 15 for… and 120 against!
