Haverhill Borough boss Rhys Shulver was full of praise for Connall McErlain, 17, after his brace against Haverhill Rovers
Friday night was magical for a lot of people associated with Haverhill Borough, but none more so than for 17-year-old Connall McErlain, who came off the bench to score a stunning brace as Rhys Shulver’s side landed a dramatic 4-3 victory against fellow New Croft tenants Haverhill Rovers.
Shulver dubbed him a ‘really promising young player’ as, with the game poised at 1-1 and more than 440 people enthralled by the contest inside the grass pitch arena, substitute McErlain calmly guided the ball into the bottom right corner – from inside the area – to put Borough ahead with just 10 minutes remaining.
When hosting Rovers added another twist to the tale, after Reece Clarke equalised minutes later, it looked like the spoils were going to be shared across the red and blue of Haverhill.
But, with such confidence on young shoulders, McErlain - who is a month into his first season in senior football - robbed Rovers of possession in their own half and let fly from 25 yards out, arrowing the into the bottom-left hand corner to give Borough the lead just before stoppage time.
Ned Burrell netted a fourth to make sure that Joe Greenslade-Cross’s strike was only a consolation for Rovers, as Borough recorded only their second victory of their latest Thurlow Nunn League First Division North campaign.
“I’ve known Connall (McErlain) for a little while. I know he’s a very good player but in the men’s game it requires a little but of patience,” said Shulver.
“I think it was a really good example of if you give someone a little bit of support and nurturing, then they will produce and I think Connall showed that. He’s a really promising young player.
“It was a really good occasion for both teams. I think when I look at our squad and I look at the age group, the majority of our lads wouldn’t have had the experience of playing in-front of that amount of people. On the flip side, for them to go and get a positive result, I think it was a great experience for their development.”
Shulver added: “I’m not going to lie, in the first 25 minutes credit to Rovers, we were really under the cosh and it looked like it was going to be a difficult night for us. But then, in the second-half, I don’t know whether it was down to Rovers’ busy schedule – as I know they played two nights before – but our younger lads’ legs came alive and we took a bit more control.”
Before the match with Rovers, Shulver said the result would not define Borough’s season – and rightly so – but could those three points strike a defining mentality shift into a side who had only won once this term before Friday’s kick-off?
Shulver said: “Potentially. It may give some of our lads, in the short term, a bit more confidence and a bit more belief that they can beat better sides and be a bit more competitive, but at the same time, I am very self aware of the task we’ve got ahead and the run we’ve got coming up.
“There’s a lot of quality in this league that can soon put you back down so we need to keep grafting and keep working forwards where we can. But, I do think it can have a positive effect on the group.
“I think the big thing is it shows that although results may not have been positive, it does show some of the good things we had gained from recent games. The unity and the team ethic that we showed was really good.”
The Borough boss admitted that while the away changing room was full of a contagious buzz and excitement, he is keen to keep his players grounded as he believes his side have a tough run of games ahead of them.
The three points on Friday was not enough to lift Borough out of the relegation zone, as they still sit second-bottom of the First Division North table (20th).
But buoyed by a superb performance last week, they host third-placed Framlingham Town on Saturday (3pm), in search of back-to-back wins for the first time this campaign.
