Boro super-sub Ryan sinks City

Scarborough Athletic joint-bosses Bryan Hughesand Paul Foot masterminded a fifth straight win on Saturday as the Evo-Stik North club head into Christmas in buoyant mood.

Ryan Williams collected the super-sub tag as he emerged from the bench to score the winning goal in a 2-1 success at a chilly Lancaster City.

This demonstrated Boro’s new depths of inner resolve, as earlier this season they would no doubt have crumbled under the pressure that Lancaster applied.

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A back-line, which saw Paul Robson slotting in for Steve Ridley, held firm after City’s delightful leveller. And this allowed Boro the platform to press on for the win.

The foundations for this were laid in the opening few minutes as Boro made the perfect start.

On-loan frontman Alex Peterson slipped into a gap in the Lancaster defence and unleashed a shot from 20 yards that no keeper would have kept out.

Lancaster were always a threat going forward and they had a useful chance to level when Reece Pearce was given a free channel through to goal, but he blazed over the bar.

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The game continued to ebb and flow, with opportunities arising at both ends of the park.

Peterson could have added a second to his tally when he headed Jimmy Ghaichem’s centre narrowly over.

Ryan Blott then had a good chance, but he whipped a volley high and wide.

Matty Poole almost took advantage of a rare Ben Middleton error in the Boro defence, but keeper Joe Cracknell made a superb save to maintain the visitors’ lead.

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Boro finished the half strongly and the game should possibly have been out of sight by the time the referee blew his whistle.

Beadle did head the ball into the net, but official Mr Mattocks strangely decided that home keeper Mike Hale had been fouled in the build-up.

The goalscoring Boro midfielder also had another great chance, but the ball into the area somehow squirmed under his foot.

Then James Bennett produced a moment of magic, only for his delightful lob to smash against the bar.

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Beadle continued his quest for goals when the second half got underway, and his crashing drive just seconds in was brilliantly saved by Hale.

Lancaster abandoned their neat passing style, opting for a direct long-ball approach, which put more pressure on Boro.

As the half went on this began to pay dividend.

Cracknell saved well from Tom Kilifin and then Poole somehow managed to slice his shot wide from a yard.

On a rare raid forward, Beadle collected the ball gloriously on his knee, but his wild finish didn’t match the approach.

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Lancaster introduced sub Sam Bailey into their attack and he made a world-class impact.

After Matty Plummer had hauled down his man, Bailey stepped up and floated a magnificent free-kick into the top corner from 35 yards.

The Boro bench made the brave decision to withdraw top scorer Gary Bradshaw and throw on Williams, who show no signs of rustiness after a lengthy spell on the bench.

The winger’s first task was to collect a neat cut-back by Blott, dance past his man and slot the ball into the bottom corner.

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This goal killed off the home side’s fight, and Boro almost stretched their lead to 3-1 in the last seconds, but Peterson failed to convert after charging in on Hale.

Boro’s performance on a battered Lancaster pitch may not have been vintage, but the points were claimed, which were enough to move Athletic up to fifth in the table