25/4/2008

Sport

Saunders' wonder-goal crowns champions' night

FARNBOROUGH midfielder Rob Saunders produced a stunning late contender for 'goal of the season' on Thursday night, as his side romped to a 4-1 win at Hillingdon Borough.

Saunders conjured up a sublime effort from the half way line that flew perfectly over the helpless Hillingdon keeper Alistair Wilmot to put Boro on the road to victory at the Middlesex Stadium, as their promotion party showed no signs of letting up.

With neither side under any real pressure to perform, it was an entertaining game which Andy Clement's men dominated from the outset. For their part, the home side were fresh from their shock victory over Clevedon Town in the Errea Cup final on Tuesday, and perhaps unsurprisingly, seemed to be struggling to motivate themselves.

That certainly played into Boro's hands, and with the BGB Southern 1 South & West title already secured, they relaxed and showed exactly why they have won this league and scored 120 goals along the way.

The only downside to the game was the performance of referee Mr Smith, who lost control of the match in the second half after making a string of peculiar decisions that only served to infuriate both sets of players and benches.

Fortunately, the players took it upon themselves to calm things down before any nasty injuries ruined the game, and Clement was delighted with another free-scoring display from his champions.

"It was a good performance," he said. "The big pitch suited us and we took advantage. Although there was a spell where we lost our shape in midfield, we recovered that and in all honesty we could have had a few more.

"There was a chance that you could turn up on a Thursday night and not bother to play well, but we were excellent.

"We changed things around a bit and people staked their claim to play in the last game of the season at Cherrywood. I told the players that I haven't picked the side for Saturday and all the players want to get involved, and that showed.

"The referee was atrocious and hardly gave us anything at all. But I don't want to go on about him. My main concern was that we came through unscathed with a good display and we have."

Before the game Clement had hinted that he would rotate his squad, and he was true to his word with a host of changes from the side that drew with Windsor & Eton to clinch the championship.

Justin Gray started in goal and Dave Woozley, Ryan Hill and Nic Ciardini all returned in a reshuffled back four. Aaron Wise came into midfield with Byron Bubb and Paul Harkness joining Michael Bartley in attack.

Hillingdon started sluggishly and it didn't take Boro long to seize the initiative, going in front after just five minutes. Hill's pass was cleverly left by Bartley for Bubb to race clear, and the Grenadian international made no mistake as he slotted home.

Minutes later Bartley danced past three defenders only to see his shot well saved, and Bubb smashed over from distance as Boro looked to put the game out of Hillingdon's reach inside ten minutes.

That didn't quite materialise however, and as Boro's tempo dropped Hillingdon edged back into the game. Even so, it was a surprise when they found the equaliser, particularly as there appeared to be more than one handball in the build up to Kevin McKenna slotting past Gray.

That was certainly Saunders' view, as he furiously remonstrated with the referee all the way back to the centre circle. Perhaps it was that sense of injustice that motivated Saunders' next move, and he stunned the spectators with a sensational goal.

From the kick off Harkness rolled the ball to prolific midfielder, and he smashed an outrageous lob that drifted over the flapping Hillingdon keeper and into the net to make it 21 league goals for the season.

He rightly milked the applause for a wonder goal that was reminiscent of David Beckham's effort against Wimbledon back in 1996, and after the match Saunders confirmed that his goal was no fluke.

"I was angry at the goal we conceded, but as soon as we put the ball down I saw the keeper off his line, " he said. "In these sorts of games you may as well try things and it came off today.

"I have scored from inside my own half before, but this is definitely the furthest out I have ever scored from."

His manager was equally as pleased with the goal, and he paid tribute to Saunders fantastic form over the course of the whole season.

"He has great ability, but you couldn't write a script like that," Clement said. "The kid has been brilliant all season. He's scored over 20 goals and he's taken money off me which not many people manage to do.

"You can't ask for more than that, and the goal sums our season up really. To be successful you must have confidence, and we have it in abundance."

The second half was a feistier affair, in part down to the referee not cracking down on some poor tackles, and the game threatened to boil over. He seemed to have forgotten that handling the ball is not allowed as he let offences go on both sides, denying Boro a penalty and even missing Bartley practically catching the ball.

Thankfully, the players calmed things down, and after good chances for Bubb and Leigh Rumbold came and went, Boro wrapped things up with two late goals.

After 82 minutes Harkness got free down the right and whipped a superb cross to the back post where Rumbold arrived to flash a bullet header past the keeper for 3-1.

With five minutes to go Boro sealed their rout, when the referee inexplicably did give a penalty for handball when the ball appeared to have come off the defender's chest. Not that the doubt worried Hill, who stepped up to smash home Boro's fourth and ensure that every player in the Boro squad, except for Brentford loanee Wise and the two goalkeepers, has now found the back off the net.

In a season where Boro has bagged 120 league goals, perhaps that is not too surprising, but after clinching the title last week, they are now adding the gloss to a remarkable season.

Tomorrow they take on Uxbridge in the final league game off the season, with a bumper crowd expected at Cherrywood Road to see Boro presented with the championship trophy.

The visitors must win the game to ensure they hold on to a play-off place, but with Boro, and Saunders, in this sort of mood, they will certainly have their work cut out to become only the second team to beat the champions at home in the league this season.

Boro: Gray 7, Hill 8, Ciardini 7, Woozley 7 (Doyle 6), Marshall 8, Rumbold 7 (Evans 6), Saunders 8 (Barima 7), Wise 7, BUBB 8, Harkness 7, Bartley 8.

First printed in: Farnborough News and Mail