Boro claim point on road at Leamington
Boro picked up a useful point from a 1-1 draw at Leamington, after a classy goal from Michael Coulson had given them an interval lead, but the hosts equalised early in the second half.
Midweek hat-trick hero Kieran Burton blocked a shot from home skipper Jack Edwards, before Boro's first attack saw Lewis Maloney lay-off to Kieran Weledji, who fired inches over, then on 17 minutes Weledji teed up Coulson, whose shot was deflected out for a corner on the right.
Luca Colville floated over the corner into a crowded goalmouth, and a remarkable scramble saw Ciaran McGuckin, Weledji and Burton all fire in shots that were blocked by the desperate home defence, before the ball was finally hacked away to safety,
Leamington's Charlie Williams had a powerful shot blocked by Bailey Gooda, then Boro went close, as Kieran Glynn hoisted the ball forward, Coulson chested down to McGuckin, and he struck a low shot that keeper Callum Hawkins dived to save.
Boro went ahead on 36 minutes with a terrific goal, as Glynn flicked the ball to Colville, and he passed to Coulson on the penalty arc.
The Boro captain looked up, before curling a left-foot shot towards the top left corner, giving the keeper no chance.
Glynn showed a touch of class to race past two defenders before passing forward to Coulson, who scuffed his shot, then shortly before the interval, Devon Kelly-Evans fired in a 25-yard shot that produced a diving save from Boro keeper Joe Cracknell, with Burton kicking the rebound clear.
in the second half, Colville, who had an excellent game, passed to McGuckin, who shot just wide of the right-hand post, before Leamington's Kelly-Evans fired wide from a 20-yard
free kick.
But the equaliser arrived in the 50th minute when burly striker Rackeem Reid shrugged off a couple of weak challenges as he raced to the bye-line and played the ball into the goalmouth, for Adam Walker to drill his shot past Joe Cracknell.
Boro had been marginally the better side in the first half, but it was now Leamington who were in control, and Edwards glanced a header wide from a Kelly-Evans freekick, then livewire Kelly-Evans dinked a shot wide, and
Walker fired just over.
Boro struggled to get forward, despite Colville, Maloney and Ryan Watson, making his 125th appearance for the club, spraying some good passes about.
The nearest to a scoring opportunity was when Dan Bramall had an effort blocked by Kelly-Evans near the end, and a draw was probably a fair result.
LEAMINGTON: Hawkins, Meredith, Hall, Clarke, Streete, Lane, Williams (Maye 82), Walker, Reid (Hewlett 83), Edwards, Kelly-Evans
BORO: Cracknell, Weledji (Watson 75), Jackson, Burton, Thornton, Gooda, Maloney, McGuckin, Coulson (Bramall 69), Glynn (Plant 61), Colville
REFEREE: Michael Crusham
GOALS: LEAMINGTON Adam Walker 50 BORO Michael Coulson 36
YELLOW CARDS: BORO - Kieran Glynn, Bailey Gooda
BORO MAN OF MATCH: Michael Coulson
ATTENDANCE: 634 (120 away)