Holwell Sports struggle on with six-goal defeat to Birstall United

It was a very poor performance by Holwell who were treated to a master class by Birstall, with Dan Jelly scoring a hat-trick.

The home side were behind as early as the third minute when Ashley Way scored after a sweeping attack as Holwell lost the ball just after they had kicked off.

Holwell just could not live with the visitors’ attacks, cutting at will through their defence like a knife through butter.

And every time the hosts seemed to build an attack, the clearance came straight back at them with a vengeance.

Tom Marriott doubled the lead after 24 minutes before Jelly got the first of his treble 10 minutes later.

Brad Smith reduced the deficit to give Holwell just a glimmer of hope two minutes before half-time.

But Way restored the three-goal cushion just after the hour mark, swiftly followed by Jelly’s second.

Holwell did put in the effort, with some players putting body and soul on the line into trying to stem the tide, but the gulf in class was just too much as Jelly completed his hat-trick with three minutes left.

John Webster’s side remain second-bottom in the East Midlands Counties League, and life doesn’t get any easier on Saturday when they host fourth-placed Aylestone Park (kick-off 3pm) who should be fresh from a 10-day fixture break.