Great sides have the ability to quickly move on to the next task in hand and this was exactly what Borough had to do against Old Wokingians on Saturday.

There was minimal talk of the cup final victory from the previous week as we all knew that a cup final hangover would be unacceptable. Pat probably still has a hangover however.

One point from three games would have been a disaster, but four points from three games suddenly sounds a lot more positive.

Dramas with selection...
With four members of last week's winning squad unavailable (Wardy, Pat, Denz and JD) and late drama with new signing David’s contract, Des O’Hare was left to get his thinking cap on and come up with a system that would get the job done.

The chosen system was two holding midfielders in the name of Sam Rose and Tom Ullyott, an attacking quadrant of Barwick, Watson, Basnett and the in-form Driver and then the solid back five of Baker, Charlie Rose, Cooper, Gibb and Pym leaving Taylor and Weston on the bench.

The rain held off before the game at Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields and I have to say the pitch was looking fantastic. Borough warmed up well thanks to Gibb and the players were ready for battle.

1st half:
Here we go...
Borough kicked off the game with Driver knocking the ball straight to Charlie Rose at right back. The opening 15 minutes was cagey from both sides with no clear opportunities on offer. It was evident immediately that the game was going to be a close affair with only one goal in it or even a draw.

Communication was fantastic in the opening period of the game and as usual, the back five were looking very solid. The new system was taking a little bit of getting used too, although the shape was good Borough didn’t have too many options and weren’t a threat going forward.

The first bit of drama happened around minute 20 when Pym floated a lovely ball down the flank for Watson to chase, as this occurred the keeper sprinted out of his area to intercept and the inevitable happened. Big Collision.
The opposition GK was clearly in a lot of pain as Watson came out of the challenge unscathed. Driver was convinced it may be an ambulance job therefore even grabbed himself a training jacket to prepare for a lengthy stoppage. As it turned out it wasn’t as bad as first thought but it was still a five-minute break in the game.

The five minutes actually proved a great opportunity for Basnett, Ullyott, Sam Rose, Barwick and O’Hare to discuss the new system which appeared to help.

Time outs the future?

Following the break in play, Borough started passing the ball around much better and the opportunities started to come with a string of corners and interplay between Sam Rose, Charlie Rose and Barwick down the right-hand side. The keeper however still hadn’t been properly tested despite the best efforts from Cooper with his David Luiz style shot from 25 yards.

Driver was attempting his slalom runs however for once they weren’t coming off, it would be safe to say that he wasn’t playing his best game and clearly still feeling the effects of Wardy’s infamous kick from last week however never write this man off.

1st Half 0-0.

The half time team talk from O’Hare was mainly positive with urgency, more risks and higher tempo being the necessary message.
It was decided that a point would not be enough, therefore, Borough would press for the win.

2nd Half:
The intensity, time on the ball and options were evidently improved with Gibb often finding Basnett’s feet to move the team up the pitch with Watson, Ullyott and Barwick offering a greater threat going forward.

Old Wokingians were a very well organised team, comfortable on the ball and this resulted in them creating more opportunities in the second half with one shot shaving the crossbar which caused a few nerves, nevertheless, Baker had it covered.

They had another great opportunity around the 70th-minute mark when they forced Baker into a fantastic double save. Best keeper in the league?

Ref, sub please.

Taylor replaces Watson who put in a great shift. Ullyott moved to the right-hand side to utilise his wand of a right foot and Taylor slotted perfectly into the centre of midfield for his long-awaited return. Yesssss, his first touch was a crunching tackle that won us back the ball.

Following a period of end to end attacking the deadlock was finally broken when the tricky Wokingian forward had a pop shot that travelled through a sea of bodies and perfectly into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.

Old Wokingians 1-0 (75th Minute).

Borough now knew they had to attack, attack, attack if they were to going to get anything from the game.

For 80 minutes Driver hadn’t been in the game at all however that was all about to change. ‘It was Sam Driver's body with some retard's feet attached for 80 minutes’ (Gibb 2020).

Borough were about to go from 1-0 down to 2-1 up in 10 minutes, but first the introduction of Steve Weston was needed and in his words, the match report should be very simple:

75mins - 0-1
80mins - Westy on
82mins - 1-1
91mins - 2-1

GOAL 82 Mins - Barwick threw the ball to Driver's feet with his back to goal, Driver turned, entered the box and attempted to snake hips his way past the defender. Just as the ball was running out of play, the defender lunged at Driver and made the slightest of contact. Driver went down in instalments, penalty given much to the absolute frustration of the opposition. The rest is history as Driver slotted the ball away.

1-1 Borough (82nd Minute - Driver).

Borough now knew the game was there for the taking and instantly put the pressure on the opposition straight from kick-off who ultimately knocked the ball straight out of play.

Enter stoppage time.

GOAL - 91 mins - A fantastic ball from Sam Rose to Driver's feet who still had an awful lot to do. He took the ball past one, past two and now found himself in the box with only the keeper to beat. Fantastic finish.

2-1 Borough (91st Minute - Driver).

With only a few minutes to go Borough had learnt from recent experiences in regards to playing and working hard until the bitter end, defend as a team and see the game out. Despite a late and dangerous free-kick Wandsworth Borough did exactly that.

Great performance and a great result.

Snatch and grab but who cares.

Final Score 2-1 to the Borough.