Poole Borough Football Club

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Alex Gunn
Excellent performance up front capped by the winning goal.

Borough Scorers : Gary Fooks (pen) 12, Alex Gunn 53.
Borough Man of The Match : Alex Gunn

Borough consolidated their position at the top half of the table, but were forced to defend in depth during the latter stages as the Cherries looked to emulate their performance in the reverse fixture and come back from a two-goal deficit.

Borough took the game to their opponents from kick-off and Scott Smith looked dangerous as he twice took the ball to the by-line before crossing, the second time Gary Fooks was unfortunate to see his near post shot hit the keepers chest. On 12 minutes Smith was upended in the area as he again looked to force his way to the line and Fooks coolly converted the spot kick.

Sturminster came close soon after as a forward headed narrowly over and later Adam Nash saved well after a home striker latched onto a long drop kick. Borough however had the upper hand, continually stretching the home defence and Smith was denied by the keeper while further chances for Gunn, Fooks and Lee O'Connell, on his debut, all went close.

HT 0-1.

Fooks was denied at close range immediately after the restart while Sturminster saw a header hooked clear as it headed goalwards. The Hornets, however doubled their lead on 53 minutes when Tony White fired in a free kick which was too hot for the home keeper to hold and Alex Gunn nipped in the convert the rebound.

Fooks forced a good save from the keeper after some smart Borough approach play, but Sturminster nearly capitalised on a defensive mistake with the resulting shot deflected wide, and James Morrell was forced to clear off the line from the subsequent corner.

This gave the home side encouragement and they saw further chances go wide before substitute Darren Bowd arrived in the box to steer home a low right wing cross 10 minutes from time.

Smith came close to making the game safe for Borough as he latched on to a poor back pass but shot wide and the Hornets were left to rely on some resolute defending to preserve their lead and record their fifth away win of the season.

Borough: Adam Nash, Dan Herrington, Tony White James Morrell (Matt Bircumshaw 77), Sean Hebdon, Paul Getley, O'Connell (Andy Curtis 82), James Edwards, Scott Smith, Alex Gunn, Gary Fooks. Unused sub: Aaron Woldon.

Manager's Comments..........

Winning boss Peter Morrell said: "They did not have a shot in the first half and we should have killed them off but we missed a few good opportunities. That is a problem that we have had all season. They came at us towards the end and put us under a lot of pressure but it was a very pleasing result especially as we had a few players out."

Stur manager Andy Ford said: "We were not so good in the first half and they went 1-0 up with a penalty which we had no complaints about. After the break we played really well but they caught us on the break. We had some good chances to get a draw but we did not get the luck that you need sometimes."