Poole Borough Football Club
Season 2003/04

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Shaun Clarke:
A solid performance at the back

Borough Man of the Match: Shaun Clarke

Borough’s run of victories came to an end after two late goals saw them exit the Dorset Premier League Cup at the hands of Westland Sports.

The two sides were evenly matched but Westlands made the early inroads and forced a good save at full stretch from Adam Nash after only 6 minutes while Alex Gunn was forced to clear a shot from the resulting corner off the line.

Borough responded and Scott Smith came close on 13 minutes with a near post header from a corner which went narrowly wide and Martin White was also just off target after getting his head to a right wing Kieran Campbell cross.

Borough were denied again as a scramble in the visitors area saw a string of shots charged down before James Edwards shot past the post. On 29 minutes Westland keeper Noone did well to recover after failing to hold an Edwards free kick, scrambling back to smother a follow-up shot from Sean Hebdon.

With the Borough midfield working well to close down their opponents further chances were created for Campbell, who turned well before shooting wide and Gary Fooks who ran onto a through pass from Edwards but his strike went just the wrong side of the post.

Half Time 0-0.

Borough continued to push forward in numbers after the break and a well struck shot from Stuart Merrell flew just wide as did a strike from James Edwards. Sports relied on a soaking up pressure and hitting Borough on the break, but Tony White and Scott Orchard coped well with any forward forays.

However with 15 minutes remaining Sports boss Peter Watts made an inspired double substitution replacing his forward pairing with Terry Brockenshire and Mike Rowsell and 8 minutes from time Westlands Steve McDaid broke away down the right before sending over a well placed cross for Brockenshire to head home at the far post.

Borough piled forward looking for a way back and Gary Fooks came agonisingly close with a lob which Noone, back-pedalling did well to tip over the bar. Deep in injury time and with Borough piling forward Westlands Matt Turner and Brockenshire combined well down the left before the ball was squared to Rowsell unmarked in front of goal to seal victory.

Borough: Adam Nash, Shaun Clarke, Tony White, Sean Hebdon (Scott Orchard 55), Gary Fooks, Stuart Merrell, James Edwards, Alex Gunn (Steve Russell 78), Scott Smith, Kieran Campbell, Martin White. Unused sub: Bradley Asagba.

Managers Comments ..............................

Sports' boss Peter Watts said: "We played really well. They are not a bad side and they certainly had their chances but we probably had the better of them and the difference was we took ours. We took off our two normal strikers and brought on Terry and Mike who both ended up scoring so I suppose you could say that a good decision by the manager helped us win it."

Borough boss Peter Morrell said: "Possession-wise we dominated most of it but our cutting edge which we have had for most of the season has seemed to have disappeared in the last few weeks. We cannot finish our chances at the moment. They are a very organised team but they did not score until late. That was probably our last chance to win something.

"Our referee did not turn up for whatever reason and luckily the reserves were playing so we asked their match official if he would do it and he turned out to be the best that we have had. The only reason that he is not doing our level is that he has not passed the fitness test yet but if he had not done the game then we would not have had anyone. Referees tend to get a lot of stick but he was excellent."