St Austell are into Round five of the FA Vase after a hard-fought battle at Princes Park against Greenwich Borough, their 23rd consecutive win in all competitions. 
Greenwich Borough twice came from behind to equalise, but after being reduced to ten men just ten minutes into the second half, the home side couldn’t find that all important third goal.
Neil Slateford’s deflected strike on 15 minutes got matters underway, but there was a four minute period just after the half-hour where St Austell thought they’d extended their lead. That goal was ruled out for a foul on Craig Holloway, but then Greenwich equalised through Danny Young.
Liam Eddy pounced to give the visitors the lead again, and Gary Borrowdale completed a crazy few minutes with a second equaliser. Both sides had chances, but the prolific Eddy hit the winner with 11 minutes left to break Greenwich hearts.
After their 300-mile journey, St Austell seemed to settle into the game the quicker, with two dangerous crosses from the right by Neil Slateford each being headed clear by Nico James, and an early shot from leading scorer Liam Eddy stinging the palms of Craig Holloway.
Once Borough started using Paul Vines on the left wing, they were able to advance up the pitch. From a corner, Gary Alexander was free ten yards out, but somehow missed his header. Steve Jerome’s cross back into the box found Vines running in from the left, and his header drifted wide.
Vines had a better chance on eight after Borrowdale released Danny Phillips on the left, and his low cross found Vines, but he couldn’t direct his shot on target.
St Austell opened up the Greenwich defence after 14, as Martin Watts’ free kick was allowed to drift out to the right wing to Dan Lean. He released Slateford through the inside right channel, and a low cross found Ollie Brokenshire, who scooped the ball over the bar from six yards.
Within 40 seconds though, St Austell were ahead as Slateford was given too much time 25 yards out and his rifled shot took a deflection off Danny Young to beat Holloway’s dive.
The end-to-end action continued as Paul Vines put a header wide and St Austell’s Brokenshire fired another long range shot at Holloway.
The Lillywhites thought they had doubled their lead as the game burst into life again in the 32nd minute. Eddy headed Watts’ long ball from halfway back into the Greenwich six yard box, where Holloway came to catch. The keeper was bundled into by Brokenshire and, as the referee blew for the foul, Chris Reski volleyed acrobatically into the net.
From Holloway’s free kick, Greenwich earned a left wing corner, which was swung into the box by Danny Phillips. Joe Vines attacked the cross at the near post, and his header dropped into the six yard box where both Paul Vines and Danny Young slid in to convert. It looked as though Young just got the touch to bring the scores level.
Borrowdale picked up the first caution of the day in St Austell’s next attack, and from the free kick, Watts hit a pile driver from all of 35 yards that Holloway could only parry, with Eddy the first to react to steer the rebound home.
Just 45 seconds later, Greenwich found a second equaliser from another Phillips corner. The right wing cross seemed to be heading for Lillywhites’ keeper Jason Chapman, but took a deflection off a couple of heads. As the ball dropped under the keeper’s feet, Borrowdale turned quickly to slam home through a crowd of players.
Both of the Vines brothers found their way into the referee’s notebook as both teams lost their composure, and in stoppage time at the end of the half, Brokenshire once again tested Holloway’s handling with a long shot.
Jason Chapman was forced into his first save on 50, as Nico James hit a long shot. The chance eventually came after some good work on the left by Borrowdale, Alexander and Paul Vines. Vines had a half-chance a couple of minutes later, but couldn’t steer his shot on target.
Borough were reduced to ten men on 55, as Joe Vines and Slateford clashed, with the St Austell man breaking forward at speed. The referee deemed that Vines had baulked the St Austell winger, and produced a second yellow for the Greenwich defender.
Although the home side were a man short, both went searching for the goal that would avoid extra-time, which meant the game became increasingly stretched. Watts curled a free kick at Holloway, which the keeper claimed at the second attempt, and St Austell had a goal ruled out by a flag on 71.
A long free kick flew 60 yards over the Greenwich back line, where Reski was arriving with a diving header across Holloway into the bottom corner. The winger was off celebrating when he realised that the flag had been raised.
While Greenwich were committing bodies forward, there was always the chance St Austell would profit on the counter attack, and the winner arrived on 79 from a quick break. Reski slid a ball between Young and Chris Edwards to find Eddy, and from an acute angle the striker hit his 33rd goal of the season, driving his shot across Holloway into the bottom right corner.
The home side’s attacks were becoming more desperate, and Dan Lean headed Danny Phillips’ cross from the right away from the line, before Borough’s one clear chance arrived on 88 minutes. Paul Vines managed to wriggle beyond the St Austell defence and into the box, where Chapman was quickly off his line to get a leg in the way; Martin Giles denied Vines a second stab at the ball by clearing for a corner.
Aaron Day had an effort blocked on the line before Holloway was forced into a double save from Brokenshire and replacement Daniel Nancarrow in stoppage time, but Greenwich’s FA adventures have come to an end for another season.
Greenwich’s manager, Ian Jenkins, was disappointed with the result, saying “I thought second half, with ten men, we were probably the better team. Obviously, it’s tough playing against a team as good as them with ten men. We knew their two forwards were decent players, and they’ve been involved in the first two goals, but we’ve reacted really well to both.”
“It was entertaining (when the goals were flying in); not so much for the management, but certainly for the crowd, and there was certainly an edge to the game, as you would expect at this stage of the Vase. We really wanted to get the third goal to see how they reacted to being behind, and I said that the three players on cards had to be careful. The red has cost us; Joe has manned up and said he did something stupid, as I think we had a chance with eleven men.”
“Some of the boys were saying that Daysey’s (Aaron Day) effort was punched off the line at the end, but I’m just gutted it didn’t go in. I’ve said to the players that we’ve now got 23 games to play in the league and we want to win as many as we can and see where it takes us.”
GREENWICH BOROUGH: Craig Holloway, Nico James, Gary Borrowdale, Aaron Day, Joe Vines, Danny Young, Billy Bennett (Jamie Wood 84), Gary Alexander, Paul Vines, Danny Phillips, Steve Jerome (Chris Edwards 61).
Subs not used: Lewis Wood, Jack Clark, Chris Saunders.
Goals: Danny Young 33, Gary Borrowdale 36.
Bookings: Gary Borrowdale 34, Paul Vines 37, Joe Vines 43, Gary Alexander 71.
Dismissed: Joe Vines 55 (2nd yellow).
AFC ST AUSTELL: Jason Chapman, Dan Lean, Martin Watts (Damon Mulready 85), Jordan Dingle, Lee Whetter, Martin Giles, Chris Reski (Ben Williams 90), Ollie Brokenshire, Liam Eddy, Jared Sims (Daniel Nancarrow 81), Neil Slateford.
Subs not used: Mike Body, Garry Penhaligan.
Goals: Neil Slateford 15, Liam Eddy 35 & 79.
Booking: Liam Eddy 73, Ollie Brokenshire 84.
Attendance: 264
Referee: Mr Jason Connolly
Assistants: Mr Lee Brennan and Mr Peter Georgiou
Fourth Official: Mr David Sheldrake