Poole Borough Football Club
Season 2003/04

THE SEASON

Results, Reports

Latest News

Fixtures

Appearances/Scorers

Reserves

PBFC Youth

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Results of Unofficial
Poole Championship
2003/04

PBFC Programme
Wirrall Programme Award
Best in DPL

Award Winners

	Supporter's and Managers's Player of the Year - Shaun Clarke
	Players Player of the Year- Jimmy Edwards
	Young Player of the Year - Danny Young
	Top Goal Scorer - Jimmy Edwards & Kieran Campbell (12 goals)
	Reserves Manager'sPlayer of the Year - Scott Ison
	Reserves Player's Player of the Year - Carl Griffin
	Reserves Top Goal Scorer - Danny Chapple (14 goals)
	Brian Lamb Clubman of the Year - Ron Lucas

Back Row : Scott Orchard, Martin White, Jimmy Edwards, Sean Hebdon, Adam Nash, Tony White (Manager) Kieran Campbell. Front Row : Paul Getley, Tommy Allen, Shaun Clarke, Matt Bircumshaw, Alex Gunn, Danny Herrington, Danny Cockwell (vs Dorchester Town Reserves 24/04/04)

Final Dorset Premier League Table & Statistics

Weymouth Sports - withdrew from league before start of season.

Final Dorset County League Division 2 Table & Statistics

Dorchester YMCA - withdrew from league before start of season.
Holt United Reserves - withdrew from League February 2004 : record deleted.

Season Round-Up

First Team

In what at times was a difficult second season for the club in the Dorset Premier League, Borough still completed the campaign just one place below their debut season in 8th position although with only two points separating themselves from 5th placed Sherborne Town the Hornets can feel they have done much to consolidate themselves amongst the top clubs in the league.

There was a high sense of expectation when the season kicked off, as changes at near neighbours Hamworthy United had resulted in six players from the previous seasons championship squad moving across to Borough. However the influx of new players from a single club unsettled the situation and it wasn't long before three of these players decided to move on.

August saw excellent home wins against Sherborne and Wareham but also a reality check at Gillingham as Borough were taken apart in the second half as the Gills showed their superiority playing down the slope at Hardings Lane. Then Borough's put on probably their worst performance in the DPL as a lacklustre display was punished by a late goal at Sturminster Newton in what was one of only three wins for the Cherries during the season.

Then followed two more defeats before Hamworthy United visited Turlin Moor and the formbook was overturned again as Borough matched the title favourites in every department to chalk up a 2-1 victory in front of a record crowd of 240.

The start of October saw Borough knocked out of the Dorset Senior Cup in extra time at the first round stage by Holt United and they faired no better in the Premier League Cup as two late goals sealed victory for Westland Sports. However the Hornets kept themselves in the top half of the table with three straight wins in between, the best a 5-0 thrashing of Bournemouth Sports.

It was obvious however that there were serious problems within the club which came to a head at the end of November when the Borough Committee decided to part company with manager Pete Morrell.

Tony White was appointed as caretaker and made an immediate impact as three straight wins in December saw him lift the Manager of the Month award. The good form continued into January as the team showed character to snatch a 1-0 win at Sherborne and were unfortunate to suffer a narrow defeated at Hamworthy United in a highly controversial game. Not surprisingly Tony was appointment as Manager was ratified at the end of January.

February saw confidence fully restored with a string of three successive wins against Sherborne, Stourpaine and Holt but consistancy was still a problem as lowly Blandford were able to secure a double after a 402 win at the Moor. However before the end of the season the Hornets we able to lay one ghost as a fine performance in a single goal victory at home to Gillingham made amends for the early season loss.

Under different circumstances Tony White would definitely have drafted in players from the reserves to bolster the first team squad during the final months and give some of the clubs talented youngsters a chance to prove themselves in the DPL. However he rightly sacrificed that opportunity to ensure the second string gained promotion and the Division 2 title, which ultimately sees the club further progress.

Reserves

Borough Reserves celebrate their title success

The Reserves exceeded all expectations in a season where it was assumed they would need to consolidate their position after two successive promotions, but a superb 14 league match unbeaten run (in only a 20 match season) saw Giles Kilshawe's side storm to the Dorset Division 2 Championship.

After a very encouraging pre-season, the team were left kicking their heels as a brace of early games were called off when opponents were unable to raise a side, a situation compounded by the withdrawal of Dorchester YMCA before a ball was kicked.

This affected the side and despite winning their first game against last seasons champions Kingston, they experienced successive defeats at Chickerell and Sherborne, two sides who would challenge for the title, and also suffered a narrow home defeat by Sturminster Newton leaving them with 10 points from their first seven games by early November. The team, affected by the rules on first team call-ups also went out of the Dorset Intermediate Cup at the first hurdle.

Borough however had proved they could grind out results in previous seasons and started their unbeaten run with a slim victory against Dorchester United followed by a tough draw at Weymouth Spartans. The team had now found their feet and went four games without conceding during December and January as they began to narrow the gap on the front-runners.

February saw three straight wins but also a bitter blow as Holt Reserves withdrew from the league, depriving Borough of six points previously gained from the Bulls. Another tough fixture at home to Weymouth Spartans resulted in a 1-1 draw but was followed up with a 7-0 mauling of Dorchester United as the lads played some superb passing football.

However if Borough were to lift the title, they would have to do it the hard way as the fixture list again served up Borough's two title rivals in successive weeks. This time however, the Hornets were in their stride and a hard fought 3-2 victory against the Chickens at Branksome Rec was by a last minute strike from Darren Abreu which secured victory against Sherborne at Turlin Moor.

Borough had to wait to secure the title with their run-in delayed as they played their group fixtures in the Division 1&2 Cup. The games gave them the opportunity to pit themselves against three Division 1 sides and a narrow defeat by Corfe Mullen was followed by a 7-1 win at home to Okeford and a scoreless draw at Allendale, good results but not enough to progress.

The two week break from league action could have caused problems, but there was no need for concern as a 6-0 win at old rivals Poole Royal Mail followed by 7-0 win against Piddlehinton meant that with Sherborne only able to draw at home to Kingston on the same day, Borough could not be caught and the title was on its way to Turlin Moor.