Borough upset the odds for last eight slot
AVRO FC ........................... 2 BACUP BOROUGH ........... 3
BACUP Borough booked their place in the quarter finals of the Macron Cup with an impressive 3-2 victory over North West Counties Premiership side Avro FC.
After beating Ilkley Town in the previous round, Borough travelled to the Vestacare Stadium to play a strong Avro FC who had finished their domestic season in sixth position so Brent Peters’ young guns were under no illusion that this was going to be a difficult evening.
Borough came into the game without Kyle and Ryan Siddle who were missing through injury and suspension, giving opportunity to both Lewis Hewitt and Alex Mellor.
Hewitt had only played one previous first team game in the win over Ilkley Town, whereas Mellor was himself returning from injury.
The young Borough side were spurred on by a good contingent of support who had made the short trip to Oldham, and the opening 10 minutes must’ve filled them with optimism as they watched their side have a good percentage of the ball in the early stages of the game.
Hewitt and Aidan Hussey started the game well with excellent distribution through the middle, and the power and strength of Toby Wright up front put the Avro defence under pressure from the first minute.
As the game progressed, so did the home side. The speed at which they were able to knock the ball around with precision on the 4G surface was creating problems for Borough.
Avro’s number seven, Michael Afuye, was becoming a constant threat down the right wing, and Borough’s Brad Hancock early on realised that it was going to be a testing encounter.
Saying that, Peters and David Felgate must have been satisfied with their side’s bright start as they looked to probe into the final third with balls down the wings for Mellor and Anthony Hall. Hall, up against his former club, was relishing the challenge down the right wing. Every time he was in possession of the ball he was eager to test the full back with darting runs towards the penalty area.
Unfortunately, it was Avro who took first blood with a quick and precise piece of play. The ball was played down the right into the feet of the tricky Afuye who managed to drive his shot across the face of goal from an acute angle in front of Borough’s goalkeeper Harry Turner and coming into the box at the back post was Louis Potts to net his 18th goal of the season.
It was a clinical finish that once again reminded Borough this game was going to need maximum effort.
The goal could have knocked the wind out of their sails but it did quite the opposite. Borough started to go through the
gears themselves with quick link up play in order to create space of their own. It was the quick use of the ball that got Borough level through captain Michael Gervin.
The ball was played into Gervin’s feet from the left by Brad Hancock, the captain then turned into space in a central position, and from 25 yards out placed a beautiful shot beyond Avro’s James Coates and into his bottom left hand corner. The goal brought a silence from the home support who also realised that they weren’t going to get it all their own way.
Both teams continued to go toe to toe with a barrage of strong but fair tackles being exchanged and a referee who was willing to let the game flow in the good spirit of a true cup tie.
Joey Fallon and Gareth Wager were winning their duels at the back against Potts and the physical presence of Avro’s Liam Ellis, and young Lewis Hewitt was playing with a confidence that would have you believe that he’d already played two hundred league games and not just two.
On 28 minutes Avro retook the lead with another clinical piece of football. A sublime sixty yard pass by their captain Kyle Jacobs found Lee Grimshaw in space on the left, and from the edge of the penalty area he
chipped the ball over the advancing Turner and into the net. Another illustration of how clubs higher up the footballing pyramid can hurt you within the blink of an eye if you switch off for a second.
Borough didn’t allow this to bother them too much and with the vocal support driving them on they were able to get themselves level within two minutes.
Mellor fired in a shot from a tight angle on the Borough left to bring out a fantastic save from Coates before Toby Wright reacted the quickest and poked the ball into an empty net from close range. A brilliant comeback not once but twice, and setting up a mouthwatering second half in the process.
In the second half Avro and Borough continued to play attractive football on a glorious evening. Early chances for the home side through Callum Nicholas and Kyle Jacobs brought the best out of goalkeeper Harry Turner who looked composed and assured throughout.
The tough tackles continued to be shared with pocket dynamo Hussey nibbling away and breaking up any kind of Avro momentum. Avro manager Alex Frost made several changes in an attempt to find a way through the resolute Borough defence but to no avail. There was
a maturity about this performance that Peters and Felgate would’ve been proud of.
On numerous occasions during the course of the season I’ve witnessed first hand this young side create their own problems with moments of immaturity and frustration, but not on this night.
Everything they did was done with desire, vision and a willingness to compete in unison for one another.
Late on in the game Josh Walne was introduced for Brad Hancock and he almost scored direct from his first corner. A brilliantly flighted ball swung into the box evaded the goalkeeper but fortunately for him a defender standing at the back post was in position to clear the danger.
In the dying minutes both sides threw caution to the wind in search of a winner and it would be Borough that would capitalise.
A counter attack found Wright in space down the right wing and as he reached the edge of the penalty area he thought about shooting but instead opted to shield the ball and wait for reinforcements.
That came in the form of Mellor who had made a gut busting diagonal run from a wide left position.
As he reached the penalty spot, Wright played the ball into Mellor’s feet and with a quality turn drew the foul from the defender at which point the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and awarding Borough a penalty. A fantastic move that showed the fitness levels of this team to be able to keep on running beyond the 90 minutes.
Hall took on the responsibility of taking the penalty in the absence of Ryan Siddle. The former Avro player stepped up left footed and calmly under immense pressure stroked the ball side footed sending the keeper the wrong way.
There wasn’t even time for the restart as the referee blew his whistle for the end of the game.
Both players and supporters bathed in the moment of what was a fantastic display against a top team in Avro. Players embraced with the Borough faithful who were situated down the side of the pitch both applauding one another for what was a truly professional performance.
Bacup Borough now travel to Congleton Town, who finished their season 9th in the premiership, on Saturday.
If Borough can show the same kind of desire and application that they showed against Avro you wouldn’t bet against them making the semi-finals.
Those making the trip to the Silk 106.9 Stadium are reminded that Kick-Off is 3pm