Scarborough 2-0 Pilgrims

Nationwide Conference

A lackluster performance by Boston United saw their run of away wins come to an abrupt end in a match where they were always second best. The starting line-up was almost the same as that which had begun against Leigh the previous Saturday. The only change was that Andy Lodge came in for the injured Jamie Gould. So somewhat surprisingly neither Mark Angel nor Jamie Cook started. Despite winning a number of corners in the first twenty minutes, they never really looked like scoring and were reduced to a couple of weak long-range efforts from Simon Weatherstone. Daryl Clare was marked out of the game and Mickey Brown lacked the pace required to latch on to the through balls pumped out to the wing. Scarborough took the lead on twenty-five minutes when a free-kick found its way through to David POUNDER who hit an unstoppable piledriver of a shot past the stranded Paul Bastock from 15 yards out. The closest Boston came to replying was when Clare was dragged to the ground going forward in the area, but the referee was unmoved.

Ellender, who had picked up a knock in an off-the-ball incident near the end of the half was replaced at half-time by Ross Weatherstone. It was only a few minutes before Weatherstone handed Scarborough a second goal with one of his all-too-frequent trademark errors. A back header fell well short of Paul Bastock, allowing Darryn STAMP to nip in, flick the ball wide of the keeper and follow home to tap in. Surely that must be the last time that Ross Weatherstone is allowed to play professional football. Boston tried valiantly to get back into the game, but it was Scarborough who looked more likely to increase their lead. Paul Bastock had to be at his shot-stopping best to deny Scarborough after Ryan Sugden broke clear and fired a shot goalwards. With Dagenham & Redbridge also losing their midweek game, everything is still wide open with just three games left.

United team: 1. Bastock, 2. Clifford, 3. Lodge (Angel 22), 4. Ellender (R Weatherstone 45), 5. Costello, 6. Rodwell, 7. Brown (Cook 50), 8. Elding, 9. Clare, 10. S Weatherstone, 11. Rusk. Subs not used: Town, Conroy.