Scarborough Athletic crumble once again in Stalybridge defeat

Scarborough Athletic continued their trend of falling apart in the final 10 minutes of games when they suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Stalybridge Celtic.
Boro reportBoro report
Boro report

Boro looked relatively assured until the closing stages, when they threw away a lead and ended up heading home pointless.

The opening half-hour of play was action-free, with Stalybridge struggling to clear their lines in the face of a strong, gusting wind, while Boro continued to overhit their heavily-assisted passes.

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The best opening came from an unexpected source after 28 minutes, when keeper Tommy Taylor smashed his clearance upfield. The ball took a wicked bounce just in front of the Stalybridge goal and flew just over the bar with Patrick Wharton panicking.

The game burst into life after this and the predatory instincts of James Walshaw soon handed Boro a one-goal lead.

Boro's top-scorer saw his shot saved at the far post, but he wasn't taking no for an answer, smashing the rebound home off keeper Wharton.

Nathan Valentine almost stretched the advantage to two minutes later, picking the ball up on the edge of the box and drilling just over the bar.

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The second half was always going to be a long one for Boro, fighting the elements and their opponents.

Stalybridge, after initially struggling with the wind at their backs, soon began to cause problem after problem for the hosts.

Kev Burgess made a superb saving tackle just as Scott Bakkor looked poised to shoot, then Taylor saved well with his feet after a stabbed effort from Michael Howard.

Howard broke free once again on the left, but he dragged his low just just wide of the post.

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Sub Daniel Cockerline took advantage of the breeze when he let fly from all of 35 yards, but again Taylor was up to the task, getting down to save well.

Boro looked to solidify their defence by throwing on Bailey Gooda at the back, the returning Ryan Watson heading to the dug-out.

And they looked to be holding on, until once again, disaster struck late in the day.

Bakkor levelled up with a smart low shot from the edge of the box after a swift break.

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Then, Boro were dealt another huge blow when Boro's defence evaporated and Joshua Solomon-Davies rolled home from close range.

Stalybridge held on without any bother to record their first win since mid-January.