RUGBY Borough maintained their lead at the top of the Leicester Senior League Division One table as they came from behind to win 4-2 against Caterpillar at Kilsby Lane.
It was an even start to the game as both sides looked to get to grips with the drizzly conditions, but it was the hosts who created the first real sight of a goal with Adam Shaw’s dipping, curling effort from 20 yards crashing against the woodwork.
Moments later, Luke Pritchard’s delivery from the left was hooked over by Jamie Paye.
After 13 minutes the visitors broke the deadlock after a costly defensive error saw the Caterpillar winger intercept the ball, before running through on goal to slot beyond keeper Dan Flack’s reach.
Borough just couldn’t get going and it was to be 2-0 shortly after, as a corner was met firmly by the visiting centre-forward, nodding home from close range.
That second goal seemed to spark Borough into life, and they responded almost immediately as Ollie Chater halved the deficit with a fierce, low strike.
The hosts then found the equaliser on the brink of half time as Paye was on hand to tap in Adam Shaw’s right-wing cross.
Borough were millimetres away from going into the interval with a 3-2 lead, but Alex Webb’s strike bounced back off the bar again.
The second half was a totally different affair as Rugby began to turn up the heat, and it soon paid off, as on 59 minutes, a quickly taken free-kick from Ryan Byrne fell into the path of Webb, who produced a venomous, first-time shot from the edge of the penalty area, which flew into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Borough were beginning to dominate and were creating numerous chances with a couple of great opportunities in the space of a minute, but Paye and skipper Jamie Tank both headed over from set-plays.
Rugby eventually grabbed a fourth late on via debutant Luke McDonald’s long-range effort.
It could easily have been 5-2 in added time, but for a wonderful double save from the Caterpillar keeper, to deny Shaw and substitute Lewis Corcoran. It didn’t matter though as Borough ran down the clock to secure another three points.
Manager Darran Tank said: “It was an extremely disappointing first half display, and to put it mildly the players were on the end of a half-time rollicking in the dressing room.
“I felt up to that point it was our worst home performance of the season so far.
“The main concern was that we just didn’t have the legs in midfield, so we tried to change things up by bringing on Luke MacDonald.
“We definitely got the reaction from the players in the second half. Luke played really well, and we dominated the midfield with Ryan Byrne controlling the flow of play.”
“We obviously have a fairly hectic schedule coming up but I’m happy with the squad depth we’ve got for the run-in”.
