Poole Borough Football Club
Season 2009/10

Borough Line-up
1. Jakub Malara
2. John Bates n
3. Alex Grimason
4. Ross Mills (C)
5. Steve Tricky
6. Patrick Murray (Robinson 64)
7. Max Crowe
8. Phil Staples
9. Dominic Allen (Watson 80)
10. Martin Warren
11. Maciej Jaksztas (Asagba 64)

Substitutes
Bradley Asagba (for Jaksztas 64)
Will Robinson n (for Murray 64)
Adam Watson (for Allen 80)

Scorers

Officials
Referee: Mr Brian Bolton
Assistants: Mr Nathan Lee & Mr Paul Axon

	Poole Borough (0) 2,
	Holt United (0) 1.

Dorset Premier League
Monday 28th December 2009

Aided by loanee Max Crowe from Hamworthy United, Borough inflicted a second defeat of the season on old rivals Holt at Turlin Moor on what was an entertaining game, played by two teams keen on producing attractive attacking football on a bumpy pitch.

Holt came out of the blocks the faster and in what was predominantly a midfield battle early on, and created the first chance on 10 mins when ex Hornet Simon Edwards shot narrowly wide of the left hand post when well placed.

Borough came into the match creating a couple of half chances that were well blocked by defenders and on 31 mins Dominic Allen jinked past a couple of challenges just inside the Holt penalty box only to see his low shot well saved near the left hand post by the Bulls gloveman, Leigh Mitchener.

On 37 mins in the best move of the half Maciej Jaksztas won the ball on the right and released Patrick Murray who supplied a pinpoint cross to Warren, unmarked 6 yards out but the resulting volley was straight at the Holt keeper. A minute later Warren nearly made amends when he intelligently intercepted a back-pass, only to find his shot bravely saved by Mitchener as the keeper advanced to block at the attackers feet.

Half Time 0-0

The Hornets continued to dictate possession early in the second half and on 48 mins Steve Tricky broke down the left wing and fired in a shot which was well blocked by the Holt gloveman’s body. On 50 mins Warren again found himself clean through on the right but forced yet another excellent save from Mitchener in the Holt goal.

Finally the pressure saw Borough deservedly take the lead on 52 mins when captain Ross Mills found himself on the left hand side of the area where he turned and produced an exquisite cross over the keeper which was met by the head of Warren who made no mistake in steering home the opener. 1-0

Holt however were always a threat to the home defence with the speed and accuracy of their breaks and the warning signs were realised when a period of pressure from the Bulls saw a shot blocked on the edge of the area by a Poole defender only for the loose ball to fall to Dan Pidgley who shot low inside Malara’s left hand post. 1-1.

On 62 mins Borough appeared to beat the offside trap with Warren and Allen bearing down on goal, and only after Allen converted with a shot under the keeper did the Assistant Referee raise his flag to rule out the goal.

Borough brought on fresh legs in Asagba and Robinson for Jaksztas and Murray on 64 minutes as with both sides pushed forward looking to break the deadlock. Holt’s best opportunity saw a cross from the left elude a home defender and Jakub Malara had to be on his toes to gather smartly with a Holt attacker bearing down.

It was the Hornets however who got themselves back in front on 73 minutes as a fine cross from the right by Warren picked out Allen, but initially it looked like the chance had gone begging when the first attempt on goal was sliced with his right foot, however Allen recovered quickly and swivelled to slot the ball under Mitchener from 12 yards out. 2-1.

The match continued to ebb and flow and on 78 minutes Allen’s pass picked out Will Robinson whose mis-queued shot found it’s way to Asagba who was left in disbelief as Mitchener came out like a rocket to block his goal-bound shot.

On 80 mins Dominic Allen was replaced by Adam Watson, with Holt also bringing on replacements and in the final minutes the Bulls pushed the Hornets back looking to find an equaliser and there was some brave and resolute defending required by Borough to see out a fine and entertaining win.