Boro crumble with dismal display at Farsley

Struggling Farsley showed the heart, fight and desire that Boro lacked, which allowed the hosts to grab a 3-1 win and a vital three points.

Boro left with nothing apart from a good drenching, a stacking number of concerns and an increasingly worrying league position in the Evo-Stik North.

In the absence of fellow joint-boss Bryan Hughes, Paul Foot was keen for his side to build on what had been a fine cup performance against derby rivals Whitby in midweek.

He threw out the same side apart from Joe Lamplough, who dropped out of the squad, Caine Winfarrah taking his place at left-back.

In the opening exchanges Boro looked to have gritted their teeth, as Tom Corner nodded wide of the target and Ryan Blott shaved the post with a powerful header.

This roused the hefty travelling support behind the Farsley goal, but much to their frustration the play soon swung to the other end.

Lewis Nightingale, previously a Boro transfer target, saw a low drive brilliantly saved by Erik Bukran, then Ryan Qualter cleared a smart centre by the same player off the line.

It wasn’t just the fans who began to show irritation, as Ryan Blott, Nathan Peat and Steve Mallory all found their way into the referee’s freely-flashed book in double quick time.

Boro finally hauled themselves off the back foot and begain to apply a little attacking force of their own.

Blott had an effort deflected just over, then a ball into the box struck the arm of Farsley defender Aaron Hardy and referee Darren Whatling pointed straight at the spot.

The ball was tossed to the in-form Blott and he cracked it home off the underside of the bar.

All Boro had to do is see out the final moments of the half and they would have had a superb advantage for the final 45 minutes.

But after Blott lifted a free-kick just over the bar, Boro swiftly crumbled.

Firstly some terrible defending allowed Robbie O’Brien a clear stride into the box and he comfortably beat Bukran at his near post.

Then, after the softest of free-kicks was awarded on the edge of the Boro box, Paul Walker’s low effort squirmed under Bukran and into the back of the net.

From here the game could have gone one of two ways. Either Boro could come out fighting when the second period began, hurt by those two late goals. Or they could completely collapse as a team.

Sadly the latter happened.

The game turned into something of a damp squib in the pouring rain, with Farsley just wanting the points that little bit more.

There were half-chances, with Fernando Moke having a shot blocked, Peat smashing a free-kick wide and Corner flicking off target, but Boro never truly looked like scoring.

In the end Boro gifted Farsley the third and final goal that sealed a hugely disheartening afternoon for the club.

Bukran charged from his goal and headed the ball straight at sub Leon Osborne. The ball broke to O’Brien and striker Aiden Savoury rolled home his shot.

Farsley killed the final moments near the corner flags and cantered to what turned out to be a simple success.

Boro left the field looking dejected, though they were not alone, as the noises from the clearly annoyed supporters told a very unpleasant tale.