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Jimmie
Berry competes with Grays'
Andy Douglas |
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| BOROUGH’S
three-match unbeaten run came
to an abrupt end on Tuesday
night against a Grays outfit
that are clearly rather better
than their somewhat lowly league
placing suggests.
A full strength Harrow side
would have done well to contain
the visitors, but a team that
could best be described as ‘the
bare bones’ of the squad
after Wayne Walters, Ross Fitzsimon
and Phil Gridelet were added
to an already lengthy injury
list, had little hope of success,
or indeed of maintaining their
recent sequence of clean sheets.
With Jimmie Berry and Jimmy
Aggrey in particular being outstanding
in defence they did well to
contain lively Grays in the
first half but there were a
few close calls.
When Keita Karamoko failed
to cut out Aaron McLean’s
deep cross he then had to scramble
back on his line to keep out
Allan McLeod’s goalbound
strike.
Then when Pat Gavin lost possession
to McLean the Grays striker
broke for goal only to be denied
by Karamoko’s brave save
at his feet and when the loose
ball was returned by McLeod
to McLean his second attempt
was cleared by a cluster of
Borough bodies on the line.
Borough’s best efforts
of the half had seen Gavin’s
free kick skid off the greasy
turf and almost fly past startled
Grays keeper Mel Capleton while
John Lawford was just over with
a speculative effort from 25
yards.
But it was the visitors who
always looked the more likely
to break the deadlock and they
did so in the 43 minutes -
ironically following a Borough
defensive mix-up. Aggrey and
Dean Marney got in a tangle
over a clearance and McLean
nipped in to steal the ball
and he found McLeod who fired
low past Karamoko into the corner
of the net.
Borough never recovered from
that blow and spent much of
the second half chasing shadows
as the visitors gave them the
runaround. With the home defence
opened up with alarming regularity
further goals were inevitable
and Grays got their second in
the 62nd minute when Peter Smith’s
throw in found Andy Douglas
and he evaded several half-hearted
challenges in the home area
before chipping the ball over
the diving Karamoko and into
the net off the far post.
Robert Charles fired into the
side netting from a rare Borough
scoring opportunity before the
visitors made it 3-0 in the
75th minute when Wayne Burnett
and McLean set up Douglas for
a firm shot that was deflected
past Karamoko at the near post.
Three minutes from time Douglas
completed the scoring and his
hat-trick from the penalty spot
after Mark Stimson had been
fouled in the home area by Aggrey.
Lawford, from a 25 yard free
kick, and Richard Goddard, with
a powerful header, both went
close in the closing minutes
but depleted Borough end up
a well beaten side.
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