Nova FC 4-1 Malborough & Hope Cove FC

Boro couldn't have hoped for a worse draw in the Quarter Final of the Ivor Andrews Cup. Nova are currently unbeaten at the top of the league, were always going to be a very hard side to score against, let alone beat.

Again, changes were forced to be made in the starting line-up, with Mike White returning to central defence and Danny Gregory back in centre midfield.

Straight from the start, Nova were attacking, switching the ball quickly from wing to wing, making the midfield and defence work hard. The breakthrough came when a lack of communication in the Boro defence let a Nova forward clear to slot the ball past Avent in the Boro goal.

Two more goals quickly followed and left Boro shell-shocked and wondering how they were 3-0 down.

At half-time, the match seemed all but over, but now Boro had nothing to lose and started playing some good football. With James Whitley making a welcome return as a substitute, the attack seemed livelier.

When both Whitley and Burman went to charge down a clearance, the ball fell kindly to the latter, who tucked the ball away neatly, beating the keeper at his front post. Boro now started to dream of a remarkable comeback, but all hope of this was quashed when another piece of poor defending allowed an easy tap in for a grateful Nova forward.

Overall, this wasn't a particularly bad performance from Boro, but the opposition was just too good in the end. Boro return to League action, and hopefully winning ways, with a trip to Brixham on Saturday (12 February).