ATTACK IS THE BEST FORM OF DEFENCE

The 5s went into the match hoping to extend their winning start to the season and cement their place at the top of Division 5 South, and were helped by the return to fitness of winger Joe Charsley and full-back Harry King, giving Captain Tom Gannon a full-strength squad to choose from.

Talk before the game centred around the current refereeing crisis hitting the AFC this season. Other than Gannon, who volunteered to officiate the first half, none of the rest of the Boro squad were keen on donning the black shirt and whistle, so Gannon approached the opposition to ask if they would like to provide a referee for the second half ‘to keep it fair’.

Fortunately, one of the spectators who had made the long trip up from Sutton happened to be a qualified referee and had even brought his whistle with him. After minimal persuasion, he agreed to referee the full game – providing one of the Sutton substitutes would hold onto his German Shepherd at all times.

Borough kicked off, wearing their changed kit of head-to-toe sky blue. There was a lot of enthusiasm for this kit pre-game, with some reckoning it would bring more ‘Italian flair’ to Borough’s game. Pitch 11 at Richardson Evans was in peak condition, the heavy rain over the past few days had softened the soil after the dry summer, creating a playing surface that would rival Wembley and it helped Borough settle into their short passing game which had characterised their first two wins of the season.

The first 10 minutes started off fairly slowly with Borough slightly edging the possession but creating no real chances of note. At the other end, the opposition Number 10 was causing Borough confusion by dropping into the hole between the Borough midfield and defence, forcing the Borough central midfield partnership of David Agostini and Mark Hinkins to drop deep to keep an eye on him, reducing their impact on the game.

Borough eventually re-organised, and thirteen minutes in, after some good link-up play down the left, Charsley played a delightful ball into new signing Tom Rozycki, who controlled the ball well and finished low past the keeper to open the scoring with his first goal for Borough.

From this point forward, Borough took more of a grip on the game and started to dominate in midfield, allowing the wingers and forwards to cause havoc in the Sutton defence. In the twentieth minute, top-scorer Seamus Brennan won a free-kick on the right, which he stepped up to take himself. He played a delightful ball into the centre, right on the penalty spot which Hinkins attacked – challenging for the header with the large Sutton goalkeeper. Hinkins got there first, managing to flick the ball on to Rozycki, and his deflected shot settled in the empty net for his second of the game.

Sutton hit back shortly afterwards against the run of play, as a first time shot from the edge of the area eluded Charlie Cooper in goal - scoring with their first real attack of the game. This only served to spur Borough on, and they hit back almost immediately through Charsley who curled a fantastic strike into the top corner from the edge of the area to make it 3-1.

Five minutes later, the ball broke on the edge of the Borough area and was picked up by defender Jack Cooper. Cooper played an angled 40-yard ball over the top to Brennan, who rounded the keeper and knocked the ball in from close range, to send Borough in leading 4-1 at half-time.

Both teams made a few changes at half-time, and it was Sutton who struck first after the break. Borough failed to clear a corner, and it was nodded in by one of the Sutton defenders to bring the score back to 4-2 and give the opposition a bit of hope.

That hope didn’t last for long, as about 2 minutes later, another new signing Jamie McNicholl played in a cross from the left-hand side that was nodded home at the far post by Brennan for his second of the game. Shortly after this, Boro finally put the match to bed as Gannon won the ball in midfield, and played in Charsley to also score his second of the game.

Another good performance from Borough, who sit firmly at the top of the league with a goal difference of +13 having scored 18 goals in the first 3 games. The Borough defence has been excellent so far this season, but it is worth noting that 4 of the 5 goals conceded have been from set-pieces.

Man-of-the-match was a close contest between Brennan and Charsley, with Charsley coming out on top for the second time in three games.