Borough Bow Out of FA Vase

Bacup Borough travelled to Selby Town in the FA Vase First Qualifying Round looking to book their place in the next stage of the competition, but ultimately came away empty-handed after a hard-fought encounter.

Selby Town FC - Richard Street

With Mason Fallon and Brady Boardman both unavailable through injury, James Bartholomew came into the side at left-back, while Harry Roper continued in goal as Billy Blake recovers from the concussion he suffered against Steeton AFC.

Borough made a slow start to the contest and found themselves under pressure from a lively Selby attack. Max Bauer proved a constant threat for the home side, making intelligent runs into the channels and creating space for his teammates.

Roper was called upon early and produced an outstanding save, diving low to his right to keep the scores level. The Borough goalkeeper was then given further assistance by his right-hand post when a shot from inside the area travelled through a crowd of players before deflecting back off the upright.

Having weathered the early pressure, Borough began to create opportunities of their own. Connor Morris came close, while Kaiden Barlow also went agonisingly close to opening the scoring, but both were denied by excellent agility from Selby Town goalkeeper Joe Wilton.

Borough came out with far more purpose after the interval and started to cause Selby problems down both flanks, with Aiden Lancaster and Bartholomew providing an attacking threat.

The only frustration for Borough was the final delivery. Having worked themselves into promising positions, the crucial ball into the box seemed to repeatedly elude them in the final third.

Morris then thought he had finally broken the deadlock after more good work down the left. His close-range header appeared destined for the net, only for Wilton to produce another superb save, diving down to his left to somehow keep the effort out.

It proved to be a crucial moment.

From the resulting situation, Selby were able to launch a counter-attack and Bauer made Borough pay, finishing the move to give the home side the lead.

Borough refused to give up and continued to ask questions of the Selby defence as they searched desperately for an equaliser. However, the home side defended resolutely and managed to keep Borough at bay until the final whistle.

Despite the disappointment of exiting the FA Vase, Borough manager Brent Peters was full of praise for his players after the match, recognising the effort and character shown by his side, particularly in the second half.

There were certainly positives to take from the performance, with Borough creating enough opportunities to have possibly taken the game to penalties, while Harry Roper and the impressive Joe Wilton both produced moments of real quality between the posts.

For Borough, attention now turns back to league action as they look to put the FA Vase disappointment behind them and focus on the visit of Garstang FC to the Brian Boys Stadium on Wednesday evening.