Southport produced one of their finest performances of the season in very difficult conditions at Nuneaton Borough, with early goals in each half putting away the challenge of the hosts. It was a big match for both teams, as they both wanted to re-gain a play off position, generating a lot of interest, as the Friday night kick off was enough to entice a plethora of other clubs, and other regional media to follow the action – such are the stakes.

On a huge, bumpy pitch, it looked as though Borough were going to dominate as the first clear chance fell to them early on. Alex Rodman played the ball over the top for Nicholas Farquharson to run on to, and with only Steve Drench to beat, he sliced his shot wide. But Southport gained the initiative as a sleak move from Neil Prince and Mark Duffy got the ball through to Neil Robinson. Having beaten the off-side trap, the Southport striker surged forward, and just as he was preparing to take his shot, the ball bobbled, allowing Darren Acton to save the ball with his legs, only for the ball to rebound back to Robinson who calmly slotted the ball into the net.

Neil Prince and Liam Blakeman both seemed regenerated, as Southport took control, leaving Borough to only a couple of half chances. Gavin Cowan cleared the Southport defence from a free-kick, only for his header to cause no real problems for Drench. However, Mark Duffy created another good chance for Port as he persisted down the right wing, only being bravely denied by Acton as he tried to whip the ball across goal. Moments later, Prince received a goal kick from Drench, with his speculative shot hitting a divot, forcing Acton to re-adjust himself as he fumbled the ball away.

Southport struck again early in the second half as Prince played a defence-splitting pass for Blakeman to run on to and, spotting Acton off his line, lobbed the ball over the hapless keeper with the ball landing into the net.

Southport turned the screws from that point, with the midfield controlling the game, holding on to their lead professionally. Neil Robinson was denied a second goal as he’d just strayed off-side as Prince played a similar ball for him to run on too, however, the linesman’s flag ruled his strike home out.

The home team only had one real chance to pull a goal back, as they looked to con the referee in awarding decisions in their favour, but the clear, fair tackling, and some common sense refereeing saw that this tactic failed. The one chance came with fifteen minutes remaining as Rob Taylor’s corner went through to Neil Moore at the near post, with his flicked header skimming across goal, as Chris Holland ensured the ball went out for a goal kick.

All-in-all, a very professional performance that send a clear message of intent to all those challenging for play-off positions in the Blue Square North.