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NO FINAL APPEARANCE FOR BOROUGH

Borough were eliminated from a knock out competition at the semi-final stage for the second time this season.   On this occasion from the Essex Senior League Cup at home to Bowers and Pitsea which was a clash of the Clubs  finishing 1st and  2nd in the League and it looked thus from the quality of the football on display.  But second was best this time despite Borough taking a 9th minute lead as Darrell Cox finished with an accurate shot between the advancing keepers legs.  Unconvincing Borough defending then saw the lead change hands ten minutes later as Rob Whitnell finished from virtually point blank range in the 17th and 19th minutes.  For the remainder of the half it looked to be anyone's game but four minutes after the interval Lewis Manor was first to a free kick driven in low from the left and turned it home from close range.   And Manor effectively made the game safe with another close range finish in the 61st minute.     The match featured the Leagues two top scorers - Manor and Cox - and the latters opening goal squared the tally at 37 each but the two second half goals by Manor leave him as the definite winner with 39 and he will have a further opportunity to increase his haul in the final where the opposition will be provided by Clapton.    If Bowers reproduce this sparkling level of performance it is difficult to visualise them failing to end their season with some well deserved silverware.

LEAGUE CAMPAIGN FINISHES WITH 12 GOAL ROMP

Borough completed their Essex Senior League campaign with an unexpectedly easy win over visiting Tower Hamlets, a Club which has always provided a stern test in previous meetings but was very obviously under strength on this occasion.   Borough scored six without reply in each half with Darrell Cox opening the scoring after 15 seconds and finishing it with the last goal in  stoppage time  having scored another six himself in between.  Leroy Griffiths and Daniel Aristidou also scored in the first half;  Dean Fenton and Joshua Willer scored in the second half.  The framework saved Hamlets on two occasions and over casual Borough finishing also kept the score down.   The visitors who arrived with only one substitute were further handicapped by having to play the last half hour with an outfield player in goal and only 10 men after their 'keeper who had managed to carry on following  a first half injury was finally forced to call it a day with the substitute already used.   There is one final match to be played at Coles Park – next Tuesday when Bowers & Pitsea will visit for a League Cup Semi-Final.

Borough finished the season with a League record of:-

Played 38 Won 34  Drawn 1    Lost 3   129 goals for 30 against  

                                               Goal Difference 99     Points 103

Borough created all time League Records for:-

Highest number of points - 103

Highest number of goals   - 129

Most wins in a season - 34

Highest goal difference - 99 (jointly with this seasons runner-up Bowers & Pitsea)

The 8 goal in one match haul of Darrell Cox was the joint highest ever.

BOROUGH REACH CENTURY OF POINTS

A 4-1 home win suggests a somewhat one sided game but that was far from the case in what was a very even match. With so many fine chances made but wasted it could easily have finished as a very high scoring draw and it was fortunate that Takeley, who probably had the greater share of such opportunities, were the more profligate.   For Borough Shawn Beveney had already hit the angle of post and bar before a rather fortuitous penalty for handball enabled Cornel Cornea to confidently  "dink" home from the spot after only 9 minutes.   After that chances came and went at both ends and it was surprising that there were no further goals until the 69th minute when Joshua Willer finished a flowing move with a hard low shot from just inside the area.   Takeley pulled one back ten minutes later when Theo Ola ran through to finish from close range but a couple of minutes later the two goal cushion was restored from the spot when a follow through tackle on Darrell Cox after he had unleashed his shot was penalised.   This time  Beveney  hit the ball high and accurately to the 'keepers right.   Cox completed the scoring  five minutes from the end  of normal time after making space to fire home a low cross shot which went in via the inside of the post.   The win brought up  100 points for Borough with one League game remaining.

CHAMPIONSHIP SECURED AFTER A "NAILBITER"

Borough clinched the League Championship with a roller-coaster nerve shredder of a win at home to Bowers & Pitsea - the only Club who could have challenged them.   Borough started hesitantly and it was no real surprise when the visitors took  a 17th minute lead through Luke Wilson who met a corner from the right just outside the far post and smashed it back and  in.   Before that Bowers had suffered the disappointment of having a goal disallowed for off-side and Borough 'keeper Ashley Harris had made a fine sprawling save to his right to keep out a Lewis Manor penalty kick.    There were no gilt edged chances created in the remainder of the first half of which Bowers  definitely had the better.   But with wind advantage Borough improved greatly and drew level in the 57th minute when Dean Fenton blasted a 25 yard free kick from a central position low through the wall and right into the corner of the net to the 'keepers left.   Parity was sufficient to clinch the Championship but a clumsy tackle  in the 75th minute gave Manor another opportunity from the spot and this time he gave Harris no chance.    With nothing to lose Borough withdrew both full-backs in favour of more attacking players and were rewarded three minutes from time when one of them - Macauley White - scored his first goal for the Club direct from a corner on the left which dropped low just inside the far post.  It was now Bowers with nothing to lose by throwing caution to the wind but in the first minute of stoppage time Leroy Griffiths eased Borough nerves with what must be a contender for goal of the season as he hooked the ball over the keeper from some 40 yards or so way out from the right touchline.   One of those goals we would all never cease hearing about had Beckham or Ronaldo been the scorer.    It was just as well he did for in the remaining stoppage time Bowers hit the bar and Harris made a wonderful save as the rebound was blasted goalwards.   So Borough have finished the job with two games remaining and will enter the Promotion (from Step 5 to Step 4) Pool from which they will probably be allocated to Division One North of the Ryman League

SEMI-FINAL EXIT FROM TROPHY

A much changed Borough squad travelled to Clapton's "Old Spotted Dog" Stadium for the semi-final tie of the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy.  After being slow to get into their stride, casual defending gifted Clapton a close range finish in the 15th minute for the games only goal.   Borough stepped up a gear and enjoyed most of the possession thereafter but mised a glorious opportunity to equalise from the spot after 35 minutes.   The penalty award led to the dismisal of a Clapton defender but although Borough battered away at the massed ranks of the home defence throughout the second half their final balls never created a clear opening and the Clapton 'keepers abilities as a shot stopper were never seriously tested.  His height enabled him to deal comfortably with the many high crosses and corners launched into the danger area.   Borough's long high ball approach foundered against uncompromising defenders who dealt confidently with such tactics and their job was helped as too many balls were overhit.

ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET - ANOTHER VITAL WIN

Borough's defence delivered another total shut out - their fourth in the last five games - against visiting Stansted.   Anthony McDonald was the architect of victory as the visitors had no answer to his trickery and must have been mightily relieved that he did not re-appear after the interval. He set up the opening goal after only three minutes when his perfectly flighted diagonal cross from the left was met by Rakim Richards at the far post and he made no mistake with an accurate low finish.   And it was a desperate tackle on McDonald which brought the penalty by which Dean Fenton doubled the lead deep into first half stoppage time.  Stansted enjoyed more possession in the second half and made determined efforts to save the game but it was not until a minute or so from the end of normal time that they looked like scoring and Borough were fortunate that a low cross shot rebounded from the post into the arms of Ashley Harris.     The victory means that Borough requiure one win from their remaining three games to be Champions

LATE PENALTY SECURES 3 PRECIOUS POINTS

A morning kick off at "The Old Spotted Dog" was not the ideal time and place for a match of  vital importance to our promption push.  The match is not one likely to live long in the memory  and it  took until the 81st minute for Borough to overcome the determined resistance of Newham.    The solitary goal then came courtesy of a completely unnecessary push in the back of Darrell Cox  by a Newham defender when no great danger seemed apparent.  With the referee only a few yards away a spot kick award was inevitable and Cox coolly drove it home low to the 'keepers right.    Before that Borough had created but wasted too many half chances but were unlucky when Lee Allen's 25 yard dipper crashed against the bar midway through the first half.  Newham's threat arose mainly from their height at set pieces and Ashley Harris dealt comfortably enough with their long range efforts.  The three points gained ended Barking's pursuit of the Championship which is now a straight race between Borough and Bowers & Pitsea whose hopes were unexpectedly dented by the surprise goal-less draw at bottom club Sporting Bengal United in the afternoon.

......................and it was 1-0 TO THE BOROUGH ON SUNDAY too as the Womens team escaped relegation to preserve their Premier Division status  by winning their final match at home to Leverstock Green.    Jaidene Browne scrambled home the goal mid-way through the first half and composed defending preserved the points  as the visitors pressed determinedly in the second half when enjoying wind advantage.

COMEBACK NEEDED FOR NERVY WIN

Abysmal finishing in the first half in which five gilt-edged chances were wasted meant Borough were one down at the interval on their visit to Basildon United who had taken a 35th minute lead when a cross (perhaps a shot)  from the left nestled in the far top corner.     Fortunately matters were rectified only two minutes into the second half when Darrell Cox accurately headed home Cornel Cornea's corner from the right.    And he also netted the winner on 65 minutes when he swept home from around the penalty spot a low cross fired over from the right by Joshua Willer.   Borough's lead never really looked in danger after that although a one goal margin is inevitably keeps nerves on edge.