Poole Borough Football Club
Season 2008/09

THE SEASON

Results, Reports & Fixtures

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Appearances

Scorers

Borough Man of the Match

Sean Gallagher

Borough Line-up
1. Andy Knights
2. Alex Grimason
3. John Bates (C)
4. Steve Tricky
5. Matt Morris
6. Adam Watson
7. Kenny Strong n 78
8. Dan Cann
9. Rodrigo Pons (Toghill 79)
10. Sean Gallagher (Stone 74)
11. James Pinder (Mulvey 74)

Substitutes
Luke Stone n 82 (for Gallagher 74)
Kieran Mulvey (Pinder 74)
Joe Toghill (Pons 79)
Dan Molyneaux

Scorers

Conditions
Clear & bright

Borough Colours
Grey Shirts with Red trim, Red shorts, White Socks

Cranborne Colours
Yellow Shirts & Shorts, Red Socks

Direction of Play
Borough defended club house end first half

Officials
Referee: Mr S. Skakich
Assistants: Mr Mr J Oxley & Mr C Fessey

	Cranborne (0) 0.
	Poole Borough (1) 2.

Dorset Premier League
Thursday 16th April 2009

Rodrigo Pons heading narrowly over from a corner

More Photos

Two goals from Sean Gallagher either side of the break capped a much improved performance from the Hornets, but the Borough striker also saw two conversions controversially disallowed to deny him his hat-trick in a highly charged but ultimately entertaining encounter at Penny’s Lane.

Changes in the Borough line-up saw James Pinder return to the side following illness while Wimborne Town midfielder Dan Cann made his Hornets debut and Matt Morris his first start of the season.

Playing down the slope, Cranborne were quick out of the blocks and in their first attack saw a shot go wide of the upright, while a minute later a break down the left saw the ball cut back into the area and a home striker shoot narrowly over.

Once Borough had weathered the initial assault they began to push their hosts back, coming close on 16 minutes when Cann carried the ball forward to the edge of the area, before feeding Rodrigo Pons whose first time shot went narrowly wide.

However the Hornets took the lead a minute later when Adam Watson carved enough space down the right to send an angled drive into the area which initially appeared to have eluded Gallagher as he battled with a defender in the area, but he checked his run smartly as the ball ran past him before deftly lifting a first time shot over the advancing Andrew Loader in the home goal. 0-1.

Although continuing to control the game, Borough were restricted to long range efforts with Cann, Pinder and Kenny Strong all narrowly missing the target. On 38 minutes Pinder came close as he latched onto a through ball from Pons by the right hand post, but a home defender got across well to block the final shot.

Within minutes of the break, Pons headed narrowly over from a corner and Cann saw a blistering shot from outside the area deflected wide as Borough looked to increase their lead before the half time whistle.

Half Time 0-1.

After the last fixture was not completed due to poor light, it was not surprising that this time both sides stayed on the pitch for the reduced half time break and following the restart it commenced with one way traffic as Borough stepped up a gear down the slope, to leave their opponents looking like a side struggling near the bottom of the table.

With two minutes of the restart Pinder broke down the left and cut inside, but his final shot was collected by Loader. Three minutes later Cann got into a good central position before pushing the ball wide on the right to Gallagher who saw his low drive flash past the far post, while seconds later Strong set up Pinder, whose shot was saved by Loader.

But Borough finally increased their lead on 51 minutes when a close range shot from Pinder was parried by Loader, but Gallagher was on hand to head home the rebound. 0-2.

Two minutes later Gallagher had the ball in the net again after good close control in the 6 yard box saw him take the ball past a defender lying on the ground before converting, but somehow the referee disallowed the strike for a foul on the prone defender. On 59 minutes a Borough corner saw Strong rattle the bar with a glancing header.

Cranborne’s first chance of the half came on 61 minutes when a deep cross from the right picked out a home forward, but his shot went well wide, but four minutes later at the other end a break from Borough saw Cann clear through on goal but unselfishly he squared to Gallagher to convert for his hat-trick, but the linesman flagged that Gallagher was ahead of the ball when he received the pass and therefore offside.

The Cranes took heart from their double helping of good fortune and on 66 minutes they broke down the right and the resulting cross was met by a powerful header which cannoned of the post. This sparked off a mini revival for the home side who saw a long range effort go narrowly wide, while Andy Knights, despite being injured in an earlier clash, pulled off a fine save to divert a 25 yard free kick past the post.

On 82 minutes, Borough substitute Luke Stone received a straight red card after the referee decided his complaints had gone too far following another debatable offside decision, but this just appeared to spur Borough on, and a minute later Loader made a superb double save, first to deny Kerian Mulvey at point blank range, before recovering quickly to block an attempt from Joe Toghill to convert the rebound.

And three minutes from time, Watson was denied when a defender just managed to cut out a low cross at the far post after good work from Toghill to find the space to get in a low cross from the left, but Borough had done enough to move back into second place and more importantly produce the morale boosting performance which they can hopefully build on for the remainder of the season.