News

FIRST WIN OF NEW YEAR

BOROUGH made hard work of winning by the odd goal in 5 at Hatfield Town's Gosling Stadium and needed to come from behind to do so.  Despite creating far more chances than the home side they were frustrated by their own poor finishing and a defiant display by Hatfield 'keeper Emmanuel Olajide.    Dean Fenton equalised Town's opening goal and Rakim Richards deflected effort put Borough ahead just before the interval.  After Hatfield drove home an equaliser Fenton settled the game, finishing from point blank range after a corner led to a goalmouth scramble.   Borough survived some late scares with Erbil Bozkurt making a couple of smart saves but Borough wasted more than enough good chances to have made the game safe and avoid nervy stoppage time.

MISERABLE START TO THE NEW YEAR CONTINUES

Borough finally played their second game of 2013 - albeit only by reversing what should have been their home fixture in the Premier Division Cup quarter final to their opponents (Tring Athletic) ground.  Like the first it ended in a penalty shoot-out and yet again the framework denied Borough as their second and 4th efforts crashed against the bar.   In normal time the match ended 2-2 but only thanks to a Tring defender glancing a back header over his own 'keeper in the dying seconds of stoppage time.  The extra 30 minutes produced no further scores.

A GAME AT LAST !

In what was only the second game of the New Year for a Club team, the Women returned from Colchester Town with a hard earned point in a 2-2 draw.  It was proverbial game of two halves with Borough 2 up at the interval through debut making Xelia Mendes-Jones header and a close range finish from Michelle Thomas but facing a brisk wind and slight slope in the second half in which Colchester scored in the opening minutes and equalised soon after.  But Borough hung on to a point with 'keeper Onyinye Nkemdirim earning the plaudits as "player of the match" after repelling sustained pressure and producing one superb tip over.

NEW YEAR STARTS WITH PENALTY SHOOT OUT  MISERY

Despite not having played a game since December 12th Borough never looked ring-rusty in their London Senior Cup game away to Ryman League Premier Division Wingate & Finchley. A neutral would have been hard-pressed to decide which was the Level 3 and which the Level 5 Club.   1-1 was a fair result although Borough had to survive a lot of late pressure having been reduced to 10 men for the last 20 minutes through Rickelle Christian's two yellow cards.    Leon Smith gave Wingate the lead after 60 minutes but Dean Fenton fired home a fine equaliser two minutes later.    The penalty shoot out started with Darrell Cox's being saved and Wingate firing their first well over but there was only to be one more miss and that came when Joe O'Cearuill's effort crashed against a post to put Borough out.

LONDON SENIOR CUP GAME  

BOROUGH just edged their "derby" game with their ground -sharers Haringey & Waltham Development FC by 2-1.   But they had to endure a nervous final few minutes when H & W pulled a goal back in the 86th minute and only a magnificent stoppage time save by 'keeper Austin Byfield prevented a penalty shoot out.    In the next round Borough visit Ryman Premier League side Wingate & Finchley at their Summers Lane Stadium on Tuesday 8th January.   Entrance £10 adult  (£5 concessions,  £3 Under 16s)

PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON BRINGS BACK A POINT FROM LEAGUE LEADERS

Young Borough 'keeper Onyinye Nkemdirim was the saviour of Borough on numerous occasions with a series of incredible saves which brought deserved admiration - disbelief almost on occasions - from all who witnessed her performance.     But she was backed up by an outstanding and committed contribution from all her outfield colleagues in what was  certainly the teams best performance of this season, and perhaps of any season as League leaders C & K Basildon threw everything at the Borough defence with increasing urgency as the second half wore on but could only breach it once to cancel out Erika Vareckova's fine curling first half shot which had given Borough an interval lead to defend.

BOROUGH JUST EDGED OUT IN VITAL CLASH

Borough's hopes of finishing in a promotion spot although, not mathematically extinguished,  were dealt a grievous blow by their visiting opponents 2nd placed Aylesbury United in front of Coles Park's highest attendance of the season (77) .  Borough may have been unlucky to fall behind to a rather soft hand ball penalty but overall "The Ducks" looked the more threatening team and were unlucky themselves when the bar intervened twice to save Borough in the space of a few seconds early in the second half.    Borough started in 8th position and remain there but with six of the teams above them all recording wins their catch-up requirement is quite formidable and they are now 19 points behind leaders Dunstable Town and 15 behind "The Ducks"

UPCOMING SPECIAL GAME AT COLES PARK

SATURDAY 1^st DECEMBER   Come and lend your support to the Boro  (ko 3pm)   We have decided to make the game against title challengers Aylesbury United on the above date a free game for all supporters.   Chairman Aki Achillea stated         ” We have decided to make no charge for entry against Aylesbury United as we wish to get our  largest League crowd in what is our biggest game of the season so far. We have promoted free entry in the local schools and hope that parents and children alike will avail themselves of the opportunity to attend, support their local non-league side , get right behind the team and create an atmosphere  like no other. A  glance at the League table will show how important a victory will be and hopefully spur the team on for their next game which is  a visit to table toppers Dunstable Town. I cannot over emphasise how big a game this is . If we lose our chances of securing top spot this season will be as good as over so come on down to Coles Park, see what our Club has to offer and support the boys”