PAULINE BATTERS BOROUGH

A quarter of the way into the league season, the 5s were sitting pretty at the top of Division 5 South with 5 wins from 5. Next up, was a top of the table clash with Old Pauline’s, who were 2 points behind Borough, and also with an unbeaten record.

After an excellent performance last time out against Reigate, confidence was sky high, and a victory would take Borough at least 3 points clear at the top. Excitement grew, as the majority of the squad arranged to meet on the train for the long journey down to Thames Ditton, and plans were confirmed for two tables of six at The Albany for drinks post-match.

With Captain Tom Gannon away for a few weeks, Vice-Captain Mark Hinkins stepped up to lead the team. There have been some famous occasions in modern football where Caretaker Managers have excelled, Di Matteo won the Champions League with Chelsea, Solskjaer managed to get the full-time role with United, and even Duncan Ferguson had a few victories with Everton... Unfortunately, this was not one of those occasions.

Borough started the game positively, straight from kick off David Agostini dribbled past three opposition players and looked to get an attack going. Despite this, Borough were not able to get an early foothold in the game and were particularly overrun in midfield. They did a have the better of the chances in the first quarter, but it was Paulines who struck first from some sloppy Borough defending on the counter-attack.

Five minutes later they doubled their lead, with a back post header from an in swinging corner kick.

Two-nil down and Borough were in a position they were yet to face so far this season. It was only then that Borough really got going, with both Mark Hinkins and Dom Szablowski shooting over the bar from distance. Borough turned the screw but couldn’t make the breakthrough, the returning Jonny Roberts seeing his effort come back off the crossbar, and Agostini having a shot cleared off the line.

2-1 at half-time would have been a fair scoreline, and Borough would have had all the momentum going into the second half, but it wasn’t to be. Paulines struck with the last kick of the first half to make it 3-0.

Half-time prompted a change of formation from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 and there were whispering of an Istanbul-like comeback, highlighting the team spirit in the 5s this season.

Borough came out on the attack, looking for a way back into the game. A golden opportunity fell to the head of defender Jamie McNicholas from a Seamus Brennan free kick, but he was unable to emulate Steven Gerrard’s heroics as the Pauline's keeper made a top quality save.

Joe Charsley flashed a great corner right across the six-yard box that somehow evaded everyone on both teams, and frustrations began to increase, with Borough giving away several petty free kicks at both ends of the pitch.

Borough “no guts, no glory” approach to the second half was always going to yield chances for Old Paulines on the counter attack, and despite some great defending from Szablowski, Paulines added a fourth and fifth in quick succession to kill the game off.

Brennan pulled one back, robbing a Pauline's defender in his own half with a never-ending sliding tackle, and slotting past the keeper to give Borough a consolation goal, that could be all-important if the league comes down to goal difference in 14 games time.

Paulines were the better team on the day, but were flattered by the 5-1 scoreline, and on another day it could have been very different had luck been on Borough's side in the lead up to half time.

Post-match analysis took place at the Albany, a delightful riverside pub, where the team drowned their sorrows in the beer garden until the 10pm curfew.

Player of the Match went to Seamus Brennan for a spirited performance, though it must be noted that Dom Szablowski came a close second with a strong performance in defence, and who without whom, the scoreline could have been worse in the second half.

Szablowski, was however selected as the ‘Dick of the Day’ partly for letting a long throw slip out of his hands and land at his feet, before booting it away in the style of Peter Kay, and partly for not joining the rest of the team for post-match socialising.