442 FANS TURNED UP FOR THIS MID-WEEK TOP OF THE TABLE CLASH, AND I FOR ONE HAD BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ARMTHORPE FOR SOME TIME NOW. THEIR RECORD IS IMPRESSIVE AND I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO AN EXCELLENT GAME OF FOOTBALL BETWEEN 2 ENTERTAINING TEAMS, BUT SADLY TONIGHT THE NORMAL BORO JUST DID NOT TURN UP.
NOT SURE IF THE DERBY GAME 3 DAYS PRIOR HAD TAKEN IT'S TOLL ON THE BORO PLAYERS OR IF THEY HAD THEIR MINDS ON THE COMING FA VASE GAME ON SATURDAY, BUT TONIGHT WE WERE POOR, ONLY AARAN REID, DAVE HATRAS AND BORO 'MAN OF THE MATCH' JOEL HARTLEY CAME OUT OF IT WITH ANY CREDIBILITY.
WELFARE ARE A GOOD TEAM, AND I THINK THEY WILL MORE THAN LIKELY WIN THIS LEAGUE IF WE OURSELVES DO NOT, BUT THEY WERE VERY INDISCIPLINED AND THEY FOUND THE THE HOSTILE BORO CROWD HARD TO COPE WITH, AND THEY COULD EASILY HAVE FINISHED THE GAME NOT WITH THE 10 MEN THEY DID, BUT WITH 8 OR 9, BUT THANKS TO A CLUELESS REFEREE WHO HAD VERY LITTLE CONTROL AND CONSTANTLY ANGERED BOTH TEAMS ALL NIGHT WITH HIS DECISION MAKING.
IN THE 25th MINUTE AFTER NOT AGREEING WITH THE REFEREE'S DECISION TO AWARD BORO A THROW IN THE WELFARE SKIPPER IAN FARMLEY GRABBED RYAN BLOTT IN A HEADLOCK RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LINESMAN WHO DID NOT EVEN FLAG, THE REFEREE DECIDED TO BOOK BOTH PLAYERS, FARMLEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN SENT OFF.
WHILE THE REFEREE WAS SORTING OUT THIS PROBLEM, HE HAD MISSED, ALONG WITH BOTH HIS ASSISTANTS BORO'S RICHARD MEDCALF BEING ASSAULTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH (HEADBUTTED) BY WELFARE'S DANNY SHARPE.
WELFARE ONLY HAD THE ONE PLAYER SENT OFF, BUT IN ALL HONESTY HE WAS NOT GUILTY OF THE HANDBALL OFFENCE WHICH RESULTED IN HIS EARLY DEPARTURE, I WAS RIGHT BEHIND THE GOAL AND IT LOOKED LIKE A GOOD SAVE BY THE WELFARE 'KEEPER.
ANYWAY, THE FIRST GOAL OF THE GAME CAME IN THE 34th MINUTE AND IT WAS FROM THE PENALTY SPOT.
BORO'S RICHARD MEDCALF WAS FOULED BY WELFARE'S IAN FARMLEY AND SCOTT PHILLIPS SCORED FROM THE RESULTING PENALTY KICK.
FARMLEY WAS SUBSTITUTED STRAIGHT AFTER THE PENALTY, HE STORMED OFF TO THE CHANGING ROOMS THROWING HIS CAPTAINS ARMBAND TO THE GROUND.
BORO'S JOY WAS SHORTLIVED THOUGH AS WELFARE FOUND AN EQUALISER JUST 5 MINUTES LATER.
TERRIBLE DEFENDING BY BORO LEFT WELFARE'S WALKER WITH ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO PICK OUT HIS SPOT AND SEND AN 18 YARD SHOT INTO THE BACK OF THE BORO NET LEAVING AARAN REID IN THE BORO GOAL WITH NO CHANCE OF SAVING, REID LET HIS DEFENDERS KNOW WHAT HE THOUGHT OF THEIR LACKLUSTRE DEFENDING ALSO.
SO, HALF TIME ARRIVED WITH THE SCORES LEVEL.
THE 2ND HALF KICKED OFF AND WELFARE HAD 3 EXCELLENT CHANCES IN THE FIRST 5 MINUTES OF THE RE-START, INCLUDING A GOAL LINE CLEARANCE FROM DAVE HARTAS AND A FIRST CLASS SAVE FROM REID, THE BORO GOALKEEPER HAS IMPROVED MUCH SINCE THE DEPARTURE OF DAVE BRAMLEY, BUT HE WASTES SO MANY BALLS FROM HIS CLEARANCES, PAUL FRASER IN THE WELFARE GOAL DISTRIBUTED THE BALL WELL ALL THROUGH THE MATCH.
JOE CONNOR CAME ON AS A SUBSTITUTE AND HE ADDED A BIT OF BITE TO THE TEAM BUT BUT TO BE HONEST WELFARE WERE WINNING EVERYTHING, THEY WERE ONE STEP AHEAD OF BORO THROUGHOUT THE MATCH.
AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY IN THE 82nd MINUTE BORO WERE AWARDED THEIR 2nd PENALTY OF THE EVENING, FOLLOWING A RYAN BLOTT SHOT WHICH WAS SAVED BY THE WELFARE 'KEEPER, THE REFEREE DECIDED THAT THE 'SAVE' WAS IN FACT MADE BY THE HANDS OF WELFARE OUTFIELD PLAYER DANNY SHARPE, WHO ALSO RECEIVED A RED CARD, THE WELFARE PLAYERS DEMONSTRATED WITH THE REFEREE, BUT HE HAD MADE UP HIS MIND AND SCOTT PHILLIPS STEPPED UP TO TAKE THE KICK, BUT THE NORMALLY RELIABLE SCOTT HIT THE POST WITH HIS SHOT AND HAD TO WATCH ON AS THE BALL BOUNCED AWAY TO SAFETY.
SO THE GAME ENDED 1-1, AND WE CAN NOW LOOK FORWARD TO A MUCH BETTER PERFORMANCE ON SATURDAY IN THE FA VASE AGAINST BRIDLINGTON TOWN.
AFTER IAN FARMLEY HAD CALMED DOWN AFTER HIS SUBSTITUTION HE DECIDED TO WALK AROUND THE GROUND AND AS THE 'BORO BUS' DRIVER MADE A HARMLESS REMARK TO HIM JUST SAYING "YOU'VE GOT SOME BOTTLE WALKING ROUND HERE", THE OLD GIT WHO WAS WITH HIM, I PRESUME IT WAS HIS FATHER GOT RIGHT INTO THE DRIVERS FACE ASKING "WHY HAS HE GOT BOTTLE" AND HE JUST COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT FARMLEY HAD DONE WRONG, HE THEN BACKED INTO A BORO FAN CARRYING 3 PINTS OF BEER AND WAS LUCKY NOT TO GET A SLAP, SO IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE WHY FARMLEY ACTED AS HE DID AGAINST RYAN BLOTT IF THAT MAN WAS HIS ROLE MODEL.
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE RETURN GAME, I AM SURE THAT WE WILL GET OUR REVENGE, LAST NIGHT WAS A ONE-OFF POOR PERFORMANCE.
LAST WORD. REFEREE SCORE (Mr T. Peart)1out of 10. THE WORST I HAVE SEEN, WHISTLE HAPPY, JUST WANTED TO BE CENTRE OF ATTENTION, MADE HIMSELF LOOK FOOLISH.
UP THE BORO
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