Linby made a return to winning ways this afternoon when they comfortably beat Holbrook St.Michaels at their Holbrook Park ground writes Kieran Booker.
Two first half goals in the space of 4 minutes set Linby on their way before the win was sealed by a Jonathan Jenkinson header with 12 minutes of the game remaining.
The away side gave debuts to goalkeeper Gary Hickman and striker Lewis Weaver and it was the attacker who helped them off to a positive start. Within two minutes, Linby had already had multiple corners and with their second of the game saw the ball be cleared off the line twice.
Young striker Weaver started to create problems for the Holbrook defence with his pace and sharp passing and nearly got himself an early goal but he could only fire wide from outside the box after 19 minutes.
He did help Linby get the opener four minutes later though when he was able to use his pace to meet a long ball down the left flank, he then started to dart towards the box before playing a lovely ball into the path of his captain Aidy Harris who had the simple job of smashing the ball home.
Tyler Guy was able to double Linby’s lead four minutes later. The defender was able to use his set piece expertise to curl his free kick from deep on the right side straight into the goal when the ball snuck in at the keeper’s near post. It’s the second time Tyler has been able to score from that position as he put away a replica effort in pre-season against Calverton MW.
Holbrook tried to get an immediate response when they had a couple of chances of their own just after the 30 minute mark. They both fell to Kevin Morrow but the player could only see Gary Hickman smother his first half shot from outside the box before firing over seconds later following pressure from Linby’s defenders.
The home side then had their best chance of the half when gifted a freekick on the edge of the box following a foul from Terry Henshaw. Unfortunately for them Dom Hayes could only hit the initial shot into the wall before Sam Williamson fired the deflected ball over when inside the box.
Linby have had an issue of holding on to leads this season but they looked determined to hold on to it when they came back out for the second half. They pressed the Holbrook defence repeatedly straight from the kick off with a scattering of corners being separated by numerous stops from the home keeper, Gary Smith.
It was the away side who continued to dominate both possession and chances without creating any clear cut opportunities that forced the keeper to move from his spot. They did make the most of one of their corners in the 78th minute though when Tyler Guy was able to swing one to the back post which was met by the towering defender Jonathan Jenkinson who headed home.
Holbrook tried to get an instant response when they went straight on the attack from the restart. Unfortunately for the home side, Jordan Butcher could only fire his shot wide in the game’s last real chance.
