Poole Borough Football Club

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Alex Gunn - Lead the line well and cause the home side problems when running on goal.

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Borough Scorers : Bircumshaw 14; Gunn 16; Heffernan 40 (pen), 43.
Borough Man of the Match : Alex Gunn

Following the disappointment of being deducted 3 points and also ordered to replay their home victory against Dorchester United following slip-up's with the signing on of two players, Borough travelled to Dorchester to take on second place United, who found themselves in the unexpected position of being only one point behind their visitors with the opportunity to go top.

Borough looked the more likely to open the scoring in the early exchanges and Alan Fooks ran on to a pass from Alex Gunn but his shot from the edge of the box was blocked by the keeper. Gunn came close as he just failed to connect to a drive from Kieron Wall to deflect it past the keeper, but Borough's first finally came on 14 minutes as Gunn took the ball to the edge of the area and, despite being pulled back by his shirt, managed to square the ball to Matt Bircumshaw who buried a low shot just inside the post.

Two minutes later Borough got their second as Jimmy Edwards made space on the right and sent over a superb deep cross and Gunn rose to head home. Dorchester rallied and Borough keeper Dan Burton maintained the advantage with two fine saves, first with his legs as a Dorchester forward broke through and the second from point blank as the home side again got behind the defence.

The game developed an nasty edge when the referee failed to take action when Gary Fooks was floored after being elbowed in the face, only booking the offending player for a foul on Alan Fooks. The ref. made matters worse as he attempted to cover himself by debating the incident with the home lineswoman who, although having a clear view of the incident, was never likely to provide a balanced opinion on what occurred.

Five minutes before the interval Dan Herrington unleashed a shot which cannoned back off the post, but the referee saw an off the ball infringement an pointed to the spot, Tommy Heffernan stepping up convert. Borough looked to be coasting after Heffernan scored his second, latching on to a corner with his back to goal before executing a superb turn and shot.

Gunn created another chance for Alan Fooks whose shot went agonisingly wide and just before the break Borough were awarded another penalty after Gunn was pulled back running on to goal, but Heffernan's spot kick was well saved by the home keeper.

HT 0-4

Dorchester created some early chances in the second period and gave themselves hope when they pulled a goal back on 51 minutes, with a shot which eluded Burton and went in off the post. Borough had the chance to restore their four-goal advantage three minutes later as Gunn ran clear and slipped the ball to Bircumshaw, who shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

The game opened up with further chances being missed at both ends, Gary Fooks seeing a shot kicked off the line, before Dorchester scored their second with 25 minutes remaining when their forward stole into the box to head in a right wing cross, which Burton got a hand to but couldn't keep out.

In a tense finish Borough pulled back and defended in numbers, but chances were still created on the break and the best fell to Gary Fooks who shot over the bar after being set up by Bircumshaw, but the home side also saw a header go narrowly wide.

Throughout the half the referee had allowed some nasty fouls go unpunished, and with Dorchester now realising that the match was lost, the situation exploded a minute from time when the home player who was involved in the first half elbowing incident executed a studs up two footed tackle on Gary Fooks. After the resulting melee was calmed down, the official sent off the perpetrator of the tackle and then followed it up with a red card to Gary Fooks for reacting to the incident.

The whistle was blown soon after, and despite the sour taste left by the final few minutes, Borough supporters could take heart that they had delivered a 4-2 away victory against their Championship rivals to go 4 points clear at the top.

Borough: Dan Burton, Jimmy Edwards, Dan Herrington (Andy Coles 58), Kieron Wall, Tommy Heffernan, Sean Clarke (Lee Atkins 64), Alex Gunn, Matt Bircumshaw, Paul Getley, Alan Fooks, Gary Fooks. Unused sub: Jamie Townsend.