Boro progressed in the 1st round of the Surrey Cup after a long trip to Woking saw them overcome a comedy 1st half performance. With no recognised forwards Jordan Oldershaw was moved from left-back to lead the line with a supporting 5 in midfield as the visitors began with the bare 11. Boro started slowly gifting possession to the opposition but took the lead early on as Paul Mears beat his man on the left to send a cross over which Adam Chandler glanced towards goal only for the keeper to parry and Ryan Butt to nod home from a few yards.
A long throw then undone Boro as a flick-on was won by the Woking forward and his strike partner was allowed to turn on the ball and strike into the bottom corner. If that was a soft goal there was more to come but Boro led again as Oldershaw slipped in Butt who rounded the keeper only to be scythed down by the covering defender, thankfully Mears was on hand to sweep the ball home to save the referee awarding a penalty. Another set-piece was Boro’s undoing as a corner was half cleared and the return saw the forward out-jump Butt to nod the home side level. Amazingly Woking went in at half time ahead as a catastrophic mix-up saw Butt wait for Hooper to come and claim an over hit ball only for Ian Rugg to come between both and sweep up the mess but his clearance hit the winger and flew across goal for an unmarked forward to tap in.
Thankfully the 2nd period saw a marked improvement as a great move involving Mark Styles saw Butt chip in Oldershaw who beat the offside trap to chip the advancing keeper within the first 10 seconds of the half. It was all Boro now as the class was beginning to tell and Kelvin Herron hit a peach of a free-kick to the impressive Mears who slipped in Oldershaw to hammer a left-footed strike past the keeper and Boro lead 4-3. Then chances came and were missed from all angles as Illingworth, Styles & Ben Baker missed a trio of sitters to open a two-goal margin. Styles made up for his by nodding Rugg’s free-kick over the keeper for his 1st Boro goal that his 2nd half performance deserved. There was time for Oldershaw to get the hat rick as his mazy run saw him chopped down twice and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot & Oldershaw stroked into the bottom corner. Manager Steve Butt had to pay up as promised to the makeshift centre forward after a pre-match bet. A better performance in a feisty game after the interval against a physical side who only looked like scoring from set-pieces not forgetting a host of attacking players missing and Boro effectively ended the game with 9 men as Mears & Illingworth battled through the pain barrier whilst Chandler & Butt were also carrying knocks. Boro will host “Watchetts” in the 2nd round at the end of the month.
