Boro made it through to the first qualifying round of the Emirates FA cup after beating Stanway Rovers from the Essex Senior league in a close encounter at Coles Park. Boro started brightly and created a number of chances in the opening 20 minutes . Most notably a superb free kick from O’donoghue saw him strike the inside of the post with the ball rebounding to safety . Thereafter Staunton forced a fine save from the impressive Stanway keeper and Nouble also striking the inside of the post after an weaving run and super finish.
Stanway created one excellent chance on the break in the first half when the Stanway forward missed from close range after some excellent approach play. 0-0 at half time and all to play for.
Boro again came out quickly forcing the Stanway players into an ever retreating role, a number of chances were created as first Edwards and then Olufemi forced excellent saves from Hawley in goal. The pressure continued to mount and finally the Stanway defence was breached as Nouble again broke through and his shot was helped in by Mckenzie on 69 minutes. The goal opened up the game and Stanway began to push forward in search of an equaliser and all credit to them for placing the Boro back line under some pressure.The final 20 minutes made for an excellent end to the game as Boro sought to exploit the gaps left by the Stanway players and Stanway began to show their quality going forward. One excellent long range shot caused Pajetat in the Boro goal to make a superb save and again moments later the Stanway forward shot weakly at Pajetat with the goal at his mercy some 10 yards out. Boro ultimately held on but all the credit goes to the away side, two levels lower, who belied their lowly league position to ensure Boro had to be on their mettle to secure a safe passage into the next round. The draw is on Tuesday so all eyes open for our next opponents.
