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Dan Herrington
Excelent perfomance on the left
both drfending and pushing forward.

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Borough Scorers : Scott Smith 40, Matt Bircumshaw 68, Alan Fooks 83.
Borough Man of The Match : Dan Herrington

Poole Borough picked up their first Dorset Premier League double of the season after a 3-2 win at Westland Sports, but the Hornets had to come from behind twice before securing victory with an controversial winner from Alan Fooks seven minutes from time.

The game was played in wet and blustery conditions, but both sides coped well with the greasy surface to produce an entertaining game. The first chance fell to the home side who saw a header from a corner go narrowly wide, but Alan Fooks almost put Borough in front as he collected a short corner wide on the left and his centre beat the home keeper but cannoned off the bar.

Westland looked to have opened the scoring on 20 minutes when Richard Gillard knocked the ball past the advancing Paul Maitland in the Borough goal, but the shot was held up by the wet pitch, and Mark Reeks was able to get back to clear off the line. The home side, however went ahead five minutes later as they executed a lightening counter attack, ending with a shot from Paul Watts just inside the area which flew into the top right corner.

Borough came back almost immediately, forcing a succession of corners and Scott Smith came close with a diving header which was desperately palmed away. Smith, however got his just rewards five minutes from the interval as he cut in from the left before unleashing a drive which dipped just under the bar.

HT 1-1

Having fought their way back, Borough gave away a soft goal just three minutes into the second half as Maitland was unable to do more than parry a weak Jason Perry shot and the ball trickled over the line. Two minutes later Westland could have increased the lead but Shaun Clarke did well to cut out a shot on the line.

This let off seemed to spur Borough on and Alan Fooks latched on to a through ball but his shot came off the keepers legs. On 68 minutes however, the Hornets were level again when Dan Herrington broke through on the left and his curving shot came off the far post, but Matt Bircumshaw latched on to the rebound to convert with a low drive.

The final 20 minutes were end to end with both defences working hard to hold the line, but with time running out a Borough centre fell to Alan Fooks who was on his own in acres of space at the edge of the area, and the veteran striker made no mistake in tucking the ball home. As the referee awarded the goal he was encircled by the Westland team protesting that Fooks was offside, and in the melee something was said to the official which resulted in Matt Turner being sent off.

When the game was restarted further comments from the touchline resulted in Jason Perry, who had previously been substituted, being shown the red card,  and was joined in the changing room minutes later by Matt Buckley for a nasty tackle on Gary Fooks. With the home side now down to nine men the pressure was taken off Borough and they cruised through the final minutes to complete their third away win of the season.

Borough : Paul Maitland, James Edwards, Mark Reeks, Shaun Clarke, Sean Hebdon, Dan Herrington, Alex Gunn, Matt Bircumshaw, Scott Smith (Danny Chappell 81), Alan Fooks , Gary Fooks. Unused subs : Ricky Smith, Shane Milne.

Manager's Quotes..........

Losing manager Peter Watts said: "It was ridiculous- I am not being funny but I gave the referee the lowest mark I have ever given because he was not capable of handling the game. "Their third goal was about five yards offside and it came after he had given a goal-kick instead of a corner at the other end. My players were justifiably upset, especially as it all happened in the final few minutes. "First of all Mart Turner got sent off for complaining after the goal and then to make matters worse the referee decided to dismiss Mart Buckley a minute after that. The official said it was for sticking an elbow into the back of one of their players' neck while going for a header. He gave a straight red but it was a nothing foul really "Then in the 90th minute Jason Perry, who had just been substituted, had a go at the linesman and he got sent off from the touchline. "I could not believe what had happened. I think the referee was just too young to handle this standard of football because there was not really a bad tackle in the match. The frustrating thing is that all three players I who got sent off could end up being suspended for a month each. We will have to see what happens because I am writing to the league about it all. `Despite all that we should have won the game we definitely had the chances to win it. The other thing was that we should have also had a penalty when Richard Gillard was taken down by their goalkeeper"

Borough boss Peter Morrell said: "A draw would have been a fair result. Before our third goal they should have been awarded a free-kick but the referee gave us a goal-kick instead. The ball then came to Alan Fooks almost immediately from that and I must admit he did look offside - the officials said later that one of Westland's defenders had stepped up late. I must say that I would have been unhappy if that goal had been given against us.''