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Season 2002/03 - Round-Up

First Team & Reserve Results/Reports First Team & Reserve
Goal Scorers		 First Team
Appearances		 First Team
Squad		 Reserves Squad and Reports Pre-Season
Friendlies

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Results of Unofficial
Poole Championship
2002/03

Award Winners

Supporters' Player of t he Year - Gary Fooks
Managers Player of the Year- Alex Gunn
Players Player of the Year- Paul Getley
Young Player of the Year - Adam Nash
Top Goal Scorer - Alan Fooks (13 goals)
Reserves Supporter's Player of the Year - Craig Shanley

Reserves Manager's & Player's Player of the Year - Lawrie North

Reserves Top Goal Scorer - Danny Flooks (23 goals)

Brian Lamb Clubman of the Year - Richard Allen
First Team Line-up

Back Row : Shane Milne (Asst. Mgr), Paul Getley, Andy Curtis, Sean Hebdon, Adam Nash, Tony White, James Edwards, James Morrell, Pete Morrell (Manager). Front Row : Shaun Clarke, Matt Bircumshaw, Gary Fooks, Scott Smith, Alex Gunn, Alan Fooks, Jamie Wilson (vs Holt United 08/02/03)

Final League Tables : Season 2002/03

Dorset Premier League

Pos

Previous
Season

  

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

Home
F-A

Away
F-A

1

4 é

 Hamworthy United

34

29

1

4

103

34

69

88

2-3

0-1

2

7 é

 Gillingham Town

34

27

6

1

89

25

64

87

0-1

1-4

3

1 ê

 Hamworthy Rec.

34

23

3

8

92

42

50

72

2-1

3-3

4

8 é

 Westland Sports

34

20

5

9

73

49

24

65

1-0

3-2

5

5 ç

 Dorchester T. Res.

34

17

7

10

76

39

37

58

1-6

2-5

6

2 ê

 Sherborne Town

34

15

9

10

59

42

17

54

1-0

1-4

7

P é

 Poole Borough

34

17

3

14

73

66

7

54

 

 

8

6 ê

 Holt United

34

12

13

9

68

56

12

49

1-1

0-2

9

11 é

 Bridport Reserves

34

14

7

13

59

47

12

49

2-0

0-3

10

15 é

 Wareham Rangers

34

13

7

14

65

71

-6

46

4-2

0-2

11

9 ê

 Bournemouth Sp.

34

12

8

14

91

75

16

44

7-4

4-3

12

18 é

 Stourpaine

34

13

3

18

62

72

-9

42

2-3

3-0

13

3 ê

 Shaftesbury

34

11

8

15

48

57

-9

41

3-1

0-3

14

13 ê

 Cobham Sports

34

9

4

21

39

79

-40

31

0-1

3-1

15

14 ê

 Sturminster Newton

34

7

8

19

40

70

-30

29

2-2

2-1

16

12 ê

 Blandford United

34

7

6

21

41

71

-30

27

1-0

2-4

17

10 ê

 Weymouth Sports

34

4

4

26

36

138

-102

16

6-0

5-2

18

R ê

 Swanage T&H

34

3

4

27

29

110

-81

13

3-0

6-1

Dorset Division 3 North & East

Pos  

P

W

D

L

F

A

 GD

Pts

Home
F-A

Away
F-A

1

 Holt United Reserves

24

22

1

1

113

21

92

67

0-0

2-6

2

 Poole Borough Reserves

24

16

5

3

88

35

52

53

 

 

3

 Shaftesbury 'A'

24

13

1

10

66

39

27

40

3-2

2-1

4

 Poole Royal Mail

24

12

4

8

81

64

17

40

3-1

3-2

5

 Kingston Lacy

24

12

2

10

98

55

43

38

2-3

1-1

6

 Stickland United

24

11

4

9

52

58

-3

37

3-2

3-2

7

 Linthorpe

24

10

5

9

48

48

0

35

2-2

3-1

8

 Bere Regis

24

10

4

10

69

65

4

34

4-1

1-1

9

 Sturminster Marshall Res

24

10

4

10

45

67

-22

34

9-0

0-2

10

 Allendale 'A'

24

7

6

11

54

83

-29

27

2-2

8-0

11

 Handley Sports

24

5

4

15

46

89

-43

19

4-1

4-2

12

 Milborne St. Andrew

24

3

3

18

35

99

-64

12

8-1

5-2

13

 Forest Inn

24

3

2

19

20

95

-75

11

4-0

12-0

Season Round-Up

First Team

For the fourth time in four seasons Borough moved home, but this time it was a journey of just a few yards to their new pitch adjacent to the Pavilion at Turlin Moor. Eighteen months of planning culminated in Borough’s first Premier League match on a lush new playing surface. Visitors Westland Sports showed the home supporters that there was a clear step up in class from the Dorset League, but the Hornets sealed victory as fittingly Scott Smith, the only Borough player on the pitch who played in the club's first game three years before, delivered the winning strike.

Pete Morrell’s plans had been dealt a blow in pre-season when new signing striker Keith Middleton broke his ankle in a friendly and the squad was further depleted when defender Dan Lomax suffered a knee injury after only four starts. Neither player was able to play any further part in the campaign. Kieron Wall also left the club in disappointing circumstances, but the management kept faith with the squad that gained promotion the previous season, augmented by the return of Tony White and the decision of Alan Fooks to come out of ‘retirement’ and lead the line once more.

Borough followed up their opening game win with a shock victory against champions Hamworthy Recreation and could only feel aggrieved that they didn’t come away with a deserved point at Hamworthy United as a clear injury time equaliser was disallowed on the decision of a club linesman.

Results up to Christmas were inconsistent with good away wins at Westlands and Bournemouth Sports balanced against a home defeat by struggling Stourpaine and a poor performance at Shaftesbury but Borough maintained their position in the top half of the table throughout.

The Hornets fell at the first hurdle in both cup competitions, going out in the 1st round of the Senior Cup for the first time in their history in a 4-3 defeat at Wareham and also suffered a heavy defeat against eventual finalists Hamworthy Recreation in the League Cup.

A five game unbeaten run from the New Year to mid-February steadied the ship, but even then Borough results suffered from inconsistency with problems maintaining the level of performance the team was capable of across the full 90 minutes.

One of the big success stories was the blooding of 16-year-old keeper Adam Nash into the Premier League and penalty saves against Holt and Sherborne demonstrated his excellent shot stopping capability whilst is overall control of his area and general confidence belies his age.

Five wins in the last eight games ended the season in an upbeat mood with a top six finish only denied by Sherborne on goal difference. Borough can feel more than satisfied with the overall performance in their first Premier League season whilst being aware that if they can improve their consistency they are more than capable challenging for honours.

Reserves

Reserve captain Lee Atkins bring presented with his runnurs up trophy by club Chairman Sid Murrell with manager Giles Kilshawe looking on.

The Reserves reward for lifting the Division 4 N&E Championship the previous season was promotion, but a re-structure of the league left still left them three steps from the top flight and one of 3 clubs going up to form the 13 member Division 3 N&E. Logistical problems at Turlin Moor also meant the majority of home games had to be played at Branksome Rec.

Lee Atkins decided early in the season to step down as manager after two seasons in charge and Giles Kilshawe took over the reigns. Following an opening draw at home to Allendale ‘A’ the team won the next six games in succession, including a 9-0 win against Sturminster Marshall Reserves, as Giles made a few changes and soon had quite a settled side which always looked capable of scoring. At times the team played some good football and a hallmark of the side was that they never gave up on any match, and on a number of occasions came from behind to win games in the final 10 minutes.

Following a first round Minor Cup victory at home to Swanage, Giles took the courageous decision to withdraw at the next round, after it became clear that, with players appearing in the DPL becoming ineligible for the competition, it would become more difficult to raise a side in latter stages unless players were stopped from progressing into the first team. The chance for silverware was further restricted when it was decided not to run a League Cup competition for the Division due to fixture congestion.

Moving into December, Borough slipped off the pace with three draws in four games, although the run included a 0-0 draw at home to leaders Holt United. What followed was the pivotal point in the season and the character of the side shone through as they systematically defeated their main rivals in the chasing pack with away wins at Poole Royal Mail, Shaftesbury ‘A’, and Stickland United whilst in between chalking up a record 12-0 win against bottom club Forest Inn.

The team, however were forced to concede the title following a 6-2 defeat at Holt in early March, which was compounded a week later by a shock defeat at Sturminster. Giles brought in two new signings to bolster the side, which responded immediately by dominating in a 3-1 win against Poole Royal Mail that began a run of four wins and a draw in the final 5 games and easily securing runners-up position by 13 points from 3rd placed Shaftesbury.

Despite coming second, the club had to endure a wait to see if they would gain promotion, as the regional split meant an automatic place was only guaranteed for the champions, but a place in Division 2 was confirmed in June.