FOOTBALL: Another convincing victory for Rugby Borough

Pictures by Brian Dainty

Everards Leicestershire Senior League Division 1:

Rugby Borough 7 Lutterworth Town Reserves 0

Rugby Borough maintained their six-point cushion at the top of the table as they strolled to a convincing victory over Lutterworth at Kilsby Lane, writes Liam Waleczek.

Borough raced out of the blocks and won a free-kick in the second minute, right on the edge of the penalty area. Subsequently, Alex Webb’s in swinging delivery was met firmly by Kane Finney who headed agonisingly over the bar. It didn’t take Rugby long to open the scoring though as in the 7th minute, Adam Shaw’s looping header from Luke Pritchard’s inviting cross found its way into the back of the net.

It was soon 2-0 as in the 16th minute, a perfectly weighted pass from Ryan Byrne found Shaw who neatly tucked the ball away into the bottom right-hand corner.

Rugby were beginning to look unplayable at times and added a third on 24 minutes as Webb bundled home after excellent work from Gerard McGahey.

Borough managed to notch another one inside the half-hour mark through Shaw, who rounded the keeper before putting away his 30th league goal of the season to make it 4-0.

The hosts added a fifth just before the interval as Luke Pritchard connected sweetly from a loose ball, unleashing an unstoppable 25-yard screamer which rifled into the top corner.

There was still time for Borough to make it 6-0 before the break as Gerard McGahey struck at the second time of asking to put the hosts in cruise control at half-time.

The second half was a pretty dour affair, with the only real bright spark coming in the 64th minute as Rugby grabbed a seventh through Shaw’s penalty after he was upended inside the box.

After the game, Borough’s assistant manager Danny Finlay gave his post-match thoughts: “I thought we were superb in the first half. It was arguably the best 45 minutes of football we have played all season. It was difficult to get motivated in the second half, they frustrated us and kept their shape well but in my eyes, we had killed the game off inside the first 30 minutes. Shawrie (Adam Shaw) was clinical in front of goal today and overall it was a solid performance from every individual out there.”

On the signing of Arron Francis, who came on as a late substitute for his debut, Finlay said: “Arron put in a good shift. His arrival adds more competition for places in attack and gives us a regular attacking option. He potentially provides traits that perhaps others don’t have.”