Boro Back To Winning Ways

Bacup Borough 2–1 AFC Blackpool

Brian Boys Stadium

Bacup Borough got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought 2–1 victory over AFC Blackpool at the Brian Boys Stadium.

Following a disappointing performance away at Colne on Tuesday night, manager Brent Peters made a number of changes to his starting line-up as Borough looked to respond and put three valuable points on the board.

Dom Williams came into the side alongside Joey Fallon at the heart of the defence, while there was a welcomed return to the starting line-up for Callum Hewitt in midfield.

Charlie Cowin was moved into the number 10 role behind Kaiden Barlow, while there was also a debut for Sheikh Sohna, who started in the inside-forward position.

Dom Williams back alongside Joey Fallon

Borough made a hugely positive start and immediately began moving the ball around with pace and purpose — something that had been seriously lacking during the midweek defeat at Colne.

The hosts created several promising opportunities in the opening stages, getting themselves into excellent goalscoring positions, although the final ball or finish was letting them down.

However, Borough's pressure finally told after just 10 minutes.

Barlow picked up possession on the edge of the AFC Blackpool penalty area before firing a shot towards goal. Justin Griffiths in the Blackpool goal dived towards his right, only to see the effort take a wicked deflection off one of his own defenders and divert into the opposite corner. A sickening blow for the visitors, but Borough had the lead.

Kaiden Barlow continues to be the driving force for Borough up front

That advantage lasted barely a minute.

Within 60 seconds, AFC Blackpool were level.

Good work and strength from Blessed Igharo created the opportunity, with the ball finding Caden Beckett, who had taken up a position on the left-hand side.

From around 20 yards, the youngster unleashed a fantastic left-footed strike that flew beyond

Billy Blake and into the bottom-right corner.

The finish was so precise that Blake was given very little chance.

Rather than allowing the setback to affect them, Borough continued to dominate possession and create opportunities, with Barlow proving a constant threat.

And on 29 minutes, the Borough frontman restored the lead with an excellent individual effort.

Good initial work from Charlie Cowin saw him pick out Barlow with a ball over the top.

Barlow raced onto the pass, beating the defender to the ball before showing tremendous composure and calmness to take the ball around the advancing Griffiths and calmly slot into an empty net.

Borough 2–1 AFC Blackpool.

Borough went into the interval with their noses in front and, on the balance of play and chances created, could arguably have been further ahead.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Peters' side enjoying a large percentage of possession and continuing to dictate the tempo.

There were excellent performances in the engine room, with Charlie Cowin, Kyle Siddle and Callum Hewitt all playing major roles in Borough's dominance.

However, as the game wore on, Peters was forced into a number of changes.

Cowin was eventually withdrawn after producing a superb Man of the Match performance, having simply run himself into the ground.

Man of the match performance for Charlie Cowin

Siddle was also showing signs of fatigue and appeared to have picked up a knock, while Hewitt was taken off as a precaution having played just 25 minutes against Colne in midweek.

Ben Langley also came on to gain valuable minutes, replacing Aiden Lancaster in the right wing-back position.

Blackpool pushed hard during the closing stages and began throwing countless high balls into the Borough penalty area as they searched desperately for an equaliser.

But the Borough lads stood firm.

They defended their box, battled for every ball and showed the determination that had been missing in midweek to see the game through.

When the final whistle sounded, Borough had secured a much-deserved three points.

It was a victory built on a positive response, greater intensity, good possession football and, most importantly, a determination to get back to winning ways.

The result takes Borough onto 15 points from their opening nine league games, providing a welcome confidence boost heading into next Saturday's home fixture against Daisy Hill FC.

The challenge now is to build on this performance and keep the momentum going.

After the game we got the thoughts of the manager Brent Peters;

“It was a really positive response from Tuesday night. We wanted to see more tempo and purpose in our play, and I thought we got that from the first minute. We used the ball well, moved it with good speed and showed a lot more confidence in possession.

“Just as importantly, I thought we looked confident when we didn’t have the ball. We were aggressive, competed for everything and showed a real desire to win the ball back. That’s what we expect from the lads.

“We created a lot of good opportunities and probably should have made the game a little more comfortable, but the important thing was getting back to winning ways. There was a lot more belief in the performance, both in and out of possession, and that’s something we need to carry into next week.”