Poole Borough Football Club
Season 2009/10

Borough Man of the Match

Phil Staples

Borough Line-up
1. Nick Johnson
2. Ben Wright (Bates 67)
3. Alex Grimason
4. Ross Mills (C)
5. Steve Tricky
6. James Pinder (Toghill H-T)
7. Kenny Strong (Wilcox 67)
8. Phil Staples n 36
9. Dominic Allen
10. Sean Gallagher
11. Rodrigo Pons n 79

Substitutes
Joe Toghill (Pinder H-T)
John Bates (Wright 67)
Max Wilcox (Strong 67)
Dan Molyneaux
Martin Warren

Scorers

Conditions
Warm & Sunny

Borough Colours
Gold & Black Hooped Shirts,, Black Shorts & Socks

Cobham Colours
All Navy Blue

Direction of Play
Borough defended Club House end first half

Officials
Referee: Mr Brian Bolton
Assistants: Mr Barrie Gregory
& Mr Matthew Branson

	Cobham Sports (0) 0,
	Poole Borough (1) 3.

Dorset Premier League
Saturday 26th September 2009

Sean Gallagher breaking into the Cobham area

More Photos

Borough were still not on the top of their game and were guilty of losing the ball too much when pushing forward, but they did more than enough to consign Cobham to their third straight defeat in the local derby at Merley Park.

With keepers Simon Higgins and Jakub Malara both out injured, Nick Johnson made his debut between the sticks for the Hornets and earned a well deserved clean sheet while Sean Gallagher made his first start of the season after coming off the bench in previous games.

The Hornets had a scare after only two minutes when a home striker got on the end of a low cross from the right but steered his shot over the bar from close range, while Johnson had to be down smartly on eight minutes to collect a dipping free kick by his right hand post.

Borough’s first chance came on 9 minutes when James Pinder broke through down the left, but his low drive was collected by the home keeper. However Borough were still giving away too many free kicks in their own half, but fortunately the home side were unable to capitalise as the chances went begging.

And it was Borough who took the lead from the penalty spot on 24 minutes after Rodrigo Pons was impeded as a cross came in from the left and Ross Mills stepped up to bury the spot kick. 0-1.

Within two minutes Cobham came close to drawing level, as Borough conceded another free kick 25 yards out and the resulting curling drive cannoned off the post.

Cobham were quick to capitalise as Borough struggled to maintain possession with former Hornets striker Kieran Campbell in the forefront in many of the home sides’ forays forward. However on 33 minutes, Borough nearly benefitted from a quick ball into the area as both Pinder and Gallagher saw successive close range shots charged down.

The home side also went close on 37 minutes with Mills doing a superb job to clear a shot from a tight angle off the line, but Borough went straight down the other end and a neat Pons touch on gave Sean Gallagher the chance to get in a low strike which went narrowly wide.

Half Time 0-1.

The next goal would be crucial and it so nearly fell to Borough only a minute after the restart as Pons got on the end of a right wing corner from Joe Toghill but saw his strike from 5 yards out clear the bar.

But with the game opening up Borough took the initiative on 61 minutes to increase their lead when Pons executed a sublime flick over the home defence allowing Dominic Allen through on goal and he made no mistake to tuck a low shot past the home keeper. 0-2.

Within a minute Cobham could have pulled a goal back as a good passing move ended with close range a shot which went well over. However at the other end Kenny Strong came close with a far post header from a left wing cross which went narrowly wide.

Cobham remained dangerous on the break but again were unable to hit the target as a goal mouth scramble on 76 minutes ended with another shot which cleared the bar.

Borough found themselves down to ten men on 84 minutes when Pons was shown a straight red card after something he said to the referee following a succession of poor tackles which had drawn no reaction from the man in black.

However this setback appeared to spur the Hornets on, who were able to exploit spaces behind a Cobham side who had run out of steam and the Hornets sealed victory in injury time as substitute Max Wilcox latched on to an angled ball to the edge of the area before firing home with a low drive. 0-3.