Holsgrove the hero for battling Paços

Abraham Smith

Twenty-one rounds of Liga Bwin action behind, thirteen to go as it went on as usual in the top 4 in the league, all Benfica, Porto, Braga and Sporting recording wins to climb in their respective order in the top tiers of the division remain.

Vitória Guimarães and Casa Pia’s battle for 5th place ended in a stalemate, while Portimonense and Famalicão triumphed over Marítimo and Santa Clara to improve their own chances of survival while dooming their opponents to further fear at the end.

Another side at the wrong end of the Primeira Liga are Paços Ferreira, but they thwarted their attempt to finish with a much-needed win in Estoril. Scotland midfielder and PortuGOAL figure of the week Jordan Holsgrove was instrumental in the 3-1 win.

23-year-old Scotsman Jordan Holsgrove was little known in Portugal when he joined Paços Ferreira last summer, having previously progressed through England’s youth teams with Reading and coming from Celta Vigo’s B team.

Despite a lack of top-flight experience, Holsgrove started the season largely as a regular under manager César Peixoto, but poor team form, a player’s injury problem and the manager’s sacking saw the midfielder somewhat out of favour.

A bizarre set of circumstances that led to Peixoto being reinstated as Paços manager changed both Holsgrove and the team’s fortunes. However, after appearing doomed throughout the campaign, there are now green hopes of recovery in the battle to avoid relegation and the former Scotland youth international’s influence has played no small part, particularly in their two recent victories over Rio Ave and Gil Vicente.

Holsgrove has become part of an established midfield trio made up of himself, veteran Luíz Carlos and former Porto youngster Rui Pires. The three featured again in Peixotos XI for Saturday night’s trip to Estoril, an important game for Paços as it is the type of game they will realistically need points in if they stay in Liga Bwin beyond the summer want.

Paços and Holsgrove started well and the midfielder tested Estoril keeper Dani Figueira after 16 minutes after trading passes with Carlos in the build-up game.

A minute later, Paços upped the ante and took the lead. Holsgrove played along, trading from a corner with winger Nigel Thomas before heading in a fine first cross for the waiting Adrián Butzke, who went past Figueira.

fatherCos was then denied a second by VAR but didn’t have to wait too long to extend his lead as Holsgrove called for a second assist of the game and picked up a loose ball in midfield before carrying forward and offloading to Thomas who unleashed one sensational performance past the struggling Figueira.

Chico Geraldes reduced the deficit early in the second third but pa in the 64th minuteCos restored his two-goal cushion as Holsgrove went from provider to goalscorer. The Scot received a pass from substitute Paulo Bernardo before striking with his trusty left foot, the ball deflected before nestling in the corner to effectively score three points.

A goal and two assists for Holsgrove meant his performance in the combined divisions quadrupled in one afternoon, a sign of his growing confidence and ability in that team and the division as a whole. fatherCos remain bottom of the table but advance to 3 points to escape the automatic relegation places.

If Holsgrove and PaCos can create a great breakout in Primeira Liga this season, that would be quite a remarkable story. There are still plenty of points to play and crucially they may just have the momentum advantage over their rivals as they head into a crucial stage to determine the outcome of the drop. They cannot be ruled out just yet, especially if Holsgrove can maintain that level of performance in the coming weeks.

By Jamie Farr

@FRfutebolJamie

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