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BOROUGH CRUISE INTO SEMI-FINAL

A much changed Borough team progressed comfortably to the Semi Final stage of the Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy with a 3-0 win over visiting Sawbridgeworth Town.  They will visit Clapton on Thursday 16th April.    A lively opening was rewarded after only 4 minutes when Jorge Djassi-Sambu scored his first goal for the Club as he met a free kick with a thumping header which gave the visiting ' keeper no chance.  An even first half gave one of Borough's 3 debut makers - goalkeeper Kalin Artakiev - the opportunity to show his mettle and his vital blocking of close range efforts kept the sheet clean.   After the interval Florin Pelecaci sped clear to finish with a clinical strike low inside the post to the 'keepers right after 49 minutes and Jonathan Constant wrapped up the win on 64 minutes with  his first goal for the Club, a 10 yard blast into the roof of the net.  

VITAL WIN - BUT ONLY JUST !

For Borough the day could hardly have gone any better with their only two realistic challengers playing each other and drawing 0-0.    Effectively, Borough now need 29 points from their last 12 games to be sure of the Title.     But todays home  performance against lowly Enfield (1893) was hardly convincing;  despite  the visitors being reduced to 10 men after only 18 minutes by a straight red card not a single shot to test the Enfield 'keeper was unleashed although some shots which might have done so were blocked by some fine last minute blocks as the vistors put in a dertermined display which so nearly earned them a point.  And it was by no means a totally negative defensive display by Enfield, who were far from out of it, but despite some promising approach work they too got nothing on target to test Borough' keeper Ashley Harris.    In the end it was substitute defender Rakim Richards who rose to meet Daniel Aristidou's corner from the right and send a perfect header looping into the net to the 'keepers left with only seconds of normal time remaining.  As to the events of stoppage time probably the least said the better as by the conclusion Enfield were reduced to eight players and Borough to ten.

BACK ON TOP, BRIEFLY AT LEAST

A home victory by the odd goal in three over the bottom Club Sporting Bengal United, whose performance suggested that was not really where they belong, was enough to enable Borough to reclaim the top spot on goal difference at least for 24 hours.  If London Bari do not prevent Barking winning on Wednesday then Barking will go top again but we will have three games in hand over them.   Saleem Masri opened the scoring with a crisp low cross shot in the 25th minute and shortly after coming on as a substitute (as it happens for Masri) he scored in the 74th minute from close range at the second attempt after the 'keeper had blocked his first.   It was a vital contribution as Sporting pulled one back in a goalmouth scramble eight minutes later to set up a nervy last ten minutes.   The game featured an unusually high number of off side decisions with Borough being the main first half culprits while the flag brought  many dangerous looking  late sorties of the visitors to a premature end.

BACK ON THE GOAL TRAIL

After the recent mini-drought Borough got their shooting boots back on to record a comfortable 4-0 win at Southend Manor.    2 goals in each half from Walid Matata and Darrell Cox  were sufficient  but some wayward finishing and a fine performance from the home 'keeper kept the score down.  At the other end Ashley Harris was untroubled in the first half but was forced to make two smart saves early in he second half to maintain the clean sheet.

GREAT RUN IS OVER

Last Tuesday Borough sacrificed their 14 League match winning run with a goal-less draw. This week the 15 unbeaten game run came to an end at Stansted who scored the only goal of the match ten minutes into the second half. So the team which scored goals for fun earlier in the season, averaging 4 a game in their first 17 League matches completed 180 minutes without finding the net !   Stansted’s greater desire and determination was obvious right from the off and although Borough stepped up a gear after going behind and rained in crosses and corners, some of which produced fine headed chances, all were wasted. Stansted defended stubbornly and deserved their success.   For Borough a performance best forgotten and definitely not one to be repeated if top spot is to be retained.

"AS YOU WERE" AT THE TOP

The vital vist to Barking ended without a goal perhaps not surprisingly as with so much at stake for both teams safety first was inevitably going to take precedence over flair and working the ball out carefully from the back and through the mid-field; so long ball  aerial warfare was much in evidence with the defences generally dominating. Barking’s threat came mostly from set pieces as Borough were forced to repel a succession of corners and diagonally driven in free kicks. No really gilt edged chances were created by either team but Ashley Harris pulled off two vital second half saves from close range for Borough and when Borough found space up front late on as Barking pressed forward ever more urgently a couple of promising half chances were wasted without testing the home keeper.     90 nervous minutes produced a result neither side really wanted but Barking are probably the more disappointed as they desperately needed the 3 points to boost their chances of reining us in at the top.    Our erstwhile run of 14 consecutive League wins is over but we can live with that.     Victory meant that  we remained six points ahead of Barking with a game in hand – effectively 7 points in view of our vastly superior goal difference.   But Bowers United now scoring goals for fun may be a bigger threat if they can cope with their enormous backlog of fixtures and if they were to win all their 5 games in hand on us they would be only 8 points behind.    And we have yet to meet them home and away with their visit to Coles Park currently scheduled to be our last League fixture although the weather  may yet have something to say about that.

........................but the WOMEN FARED BETTER AT BARKING on Sunday 8th when the League fixture list co-incidentally sent them to Mayesbrook Park.   A goal from debut-making Charlotte Collins-Blaize with a well timed run to blast home a low cross from the left midway through the first half was followed by a clinical close range finish by Zhane Amaoten who pounced when Alice Manu's shot was parried a minute before the interval.   Borough had to withstand a lot of second half pressure in what was a tough tackling match and while Barking were unable to fire in any shots to seriously test Borough' keeper Cherkish Young she had to produce several brave plunges into a sea of legs as a succession of corners were fired into the danger area causing repeated goalmouth scrambles  and deservedly kept a clean sheet..   Borough had further chances to make the game safe but could not quite find a cutting edge finish for some promising approach play.

TOP v BOTTOM FINISHES PREDICTABLY

4-1 is the sort of scoreline to be expected from a top v bottom clash but in truth it could and should have been much higher with a combination of wasteful finishing, repeated framework interventions and desperate goal-line clearances denying Borough further improvement to their goal difference.    Borough led at the interval without having shown great urgency thanks to a rocket of a cross shot into the far top corner from the edge of the penalty area unleashed by Cornel Cornea after 13 minutes.  Thus the score stayed until the intoduction of Darrell Cox midway through the second half and within minutes of his arrival he had unfussily tucked away two low close range efforts in the 71st and 75th minutes.   A horrible mix-up in defence gifted Sporting Bengal United a 79th minute goal but it never looked likely to be more than a consolation and Anthony McDonald wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time with a precise cross shot low into the corner.

.....and on Sunday  WOMEN REACH LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL

Borough returned from Bury St. Edmunds after 2 hours of hard graft and concentration with a 2-0 quarter final win over Bury Town.     Borough enjoyed the lion's share of possession and made by far the greater number of chances but a stubborn well organised defence kept them at bay throughout normal time.    But early in the first extra 15 minutes Alice Manu knocked home two close range efforts and Bury's predictable late flurry never looked likely to reverse the situation with a succession of corners being confidently dealt with as Borough entered the semi-final where they will meet Royston Town probably at a neutral venue on March 15th.

THREE POINTS FROM A VERY STERN TEST

Boroughs last line of defence weathered its severest test of the season especially in a "backs to the wall" second half in which it received little assistance  in the way of pressure relief from its misfiring front line.  Even so only a sensational flying save by Ashley Harris to push a powerful late free kick just past his left hand post preserved the 2-1 lead at "The Old Spotted Dog" where Clapton and their noisy supporters must be wondering how they failed to get an equaliser from their second half onslaught which would really have been the least they deserved.  Both sides had profited from penalties for fouls, not of the worst variety, with Walid Matata slotting the first low to the 'keepers left against the run of play in the 22nd minute.   Fahad Nyanja sent Harris the wrong way five minutes before the interval.   In between a fine run by Anthony McDonald finished with a 27th minute shot against the post and Cornel Cornea prodded home the rebound.   The less said about Borough's second half finishing of  the few chances they managed to create the better.  After match news that closest challenger's Barking had effectively made the win worth five points for Borough by their surprising 1-1 draw at home to Basildon United made the journey back even sweeter;  Borough now lead them 57 points to 42 but have played 2 games more

AND  WOMEN  OVERCOME STEVENAGE TO  REACH THEIR LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINAL ON SUNDAY.....    

.....in what was a game of similar pattern.  Two-nil up at Codicote (having coceded home advantage to get the game played) through Eunice Fakolade and Marianne Sheena at the interval Borough had to withstand a second half onslaught in which 'keeper Cherkish Young pulled off some outstanding saves including a vital dive low to her left  to push a hard hit penalty past the post ten minutes from  time so avoiding what would have been a nailbiting finish.  In fact Borough broke away for Sheena to increase the lead before Stevenage deservedly hooked home a consolation effort only for Sheena to again exploit the space their need for all out attack allowed to complete her hat-trick for the 4-1 win.   It was by no means as comfortable as a three goal margin suggests but was the just reward for ninety minutes hard slog.