RYMAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Harrow Borough 2 Lewes 0
The former Arsenal starlet in surely his last home game for the club , showed just why he is seeking a move back to a higher level this summer with a string of superb saves in the second half, leaving goals from Rob Wolleaston and Steve Butterworth to clinch victory.
It meant self-effacing centre-half Danny Leech, who called time on 10 years at the club at the end of the match was able to slip away into the sunset with clean sheet intact and hand the headlines to someone else just as he would have wished.
Borough showed two changes from the win at Cray 48 hours earlier with skipper Rob Wolleaston and Adam Louth earning recalls to the starting XI in place of David Taylor and Matt Cooper.
Lewes settled the better on a pitch slickened up by a lunchtime downpour and Shea was soon in the thick of things, making himself big to block to safety a Nathan Crabb close-range effort with just three minutes on the clock.
Borough though responded well with Rikki Banks having to fist clear under pressure from Ryan Debattista before the hosts took the lead on 12 minutes.
The two recalled men did the damage as Louth played the ball forward to Wolleaston who turned his defender before lashing his shot high beyond Banks’ right hand.
Victor Osobu should have done better after good work from fellow winger Shaun Lucien, but Shea had to be alert again four minutes from the break as he didved to keep out Joel Ledgister’s effort.
Borough finished the half the stronger with Lucien’s free-kick being parried by Banks just out of reach of the incoming DeBattista, before Page appeare4d to be pushed from behind, but no penalty was given by referee Mr Gillett.
On the stroke of the interval it should have been 2-0 as Lucien and Michael Barima combined down the right, the latter crossing to Debattista closing in at the near post, but the youngster volleyed wide.
If the hosts shaded the first half it was a different story after the interval when Shea took centre-stage.
The young custodian first blocked a Ledgister shot with his legs and when the resulting corner was not properly cleared he somehow kept out an Alex Mallins shot seen late through a sea of legs – an incredible stop.
That good work appeared to be undone when Barima gave away possession allowing Nicky wheeler to race clear, but Shea forced him wide and although the shot was on target and beat the keeper his full-back was able to atone for the earlier error and clear off the line.
The hosts briefly lifted what was becoming a siege as Wolleaston’s through-ball released Debattista, the youngster doping everything right with his outside of the foot flick, but Banks got a hand on the effort to deflect it to safety.
Shea was soon back in the spotlight though, parrying brilliantly from a header by Ledgister before denying wheeler with an even better save from the resulting corner.
With all that pressure coming to nothing Lewes began to tire and Marc Charles-Smith spurned a golden chance to kill them off 15 minutes from time when he miss-kicked Osobu’s excellent cross from the right.
Fortunately, the miss did not prove costly as Borough sealed the points with six minutes left.
Again Osobu was the catalyst, winning the ball from the full-back on the left and when he passed it inside there was Butterworth to trick his way beyond the last defender and slot beyond the advancing Banks.
Wolleaston gave way to Taylor allowing leech to sport the captain’s armband for the last five minutes before being cheered from the field son Mason in hand – a fitting end for a great stalwart.
