Play-off bid going down to the wire
BACUP Borough breathed life into their push for the North West Counties League Division One play-offs with an impressive 1-0 win over secondplaced Holker Old Boys in midweek.
Victory against the side from Barrow-in-Furness put Borough right back in the mix ahead of Thursday evening’s clash against Daisy Hill. Victory in that game would lift Borough into the play-off positions with their final game on Saturday away to Steeton AFC.
It’s been an impressive season for this young Borough side. They’ve continued to grow and progress with every game, and the crowds have doubled this season with average gates reaching 170/180. There seems to be a positive energy surrounding the club both on and off the field with the commercial arm working effectively through the new Head of Business Development Andrew Knights.
Whatever happens the future looks bright for the Borough young guns. Destiny is in their own hands with the two remaining games. It’s been exciting and exhilarating throughout.
Their win on Tuesday came after a 2-1 defeat at Atherton LR at the weekend. Two excellent strikes by Joshua Abbott meant that Borough came away from Crilly Park empty handed.
Borough started well with excellent movement down the right by Anthony Hall. And it was through Hall that Borough were awarded a penalty on 15 minutes. Ryan Siddle stepped up and the Atherton goalkeeper Oliver Culkin guessed the right way to make a splendid save down to his left hand side and tip the ball around the post for a corner.
From the resulting corner Borough got the breakthrough. The ball was driven into the box and Joey Fallon was perfectly placed to smash the ball beyond Culkin and into the Atherton LR net.
The home side who were currently 18th in the North West Counties League were desperate to get themselves back in the game, and their dogged
determination was rewarded on 31 minutes with a delightful strike by Abbott.
In the second half Borough were attacking up the slope but struggled to make anything stick in
and around Toby Wright. You could see Brent Peters and David Felgate getting more and more animated on the bench through the lack of possession in the midfield department.
The Borough manager
threw caution to the wind in the last 20 minutes knowing that three points were crucial and massively important in their quest to gain one of those play-off places.
Dennis Sherriff and
Lewis Byrne were both introduced to the game meaning that Borough now had all three forwards on the pitch in search of a winner.
The home side, who are fighting for their lives at the other end of the league table, had other ideas. They were resolute, determined, cavalier and as the game moved into injury time they got their winner via Abbott again.