PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY
SATURDAY 18TH JULY 2009
POOLE BOROUGH 2 VERWOOD TOWN 3

Fawcett, Jones, Elysee, Anderton, Deare, Evans, Dyer, Lanahan, Faulkner, Truan, Homer, Moore S, Moore W, Giles, Willis. A good squad for our second friendly of the season. Poole Borough had an equally heavy squad but the referee poured water on the hopes of changing frequently by announcing no wholesale changes until the second half.

Only 2 minutes had elapsed when Truan flicked on a free kick that skimmed the post.. Borough hit back down the left and ran into Jones who proved an immovable object. The ball found its way to Elysee. The make over Chas had endured in the close season had left him with hair! It acted as a spoiler as Chas sped past his full back...head down and bearing on goal.....the cross found Homer and a rasping shot hit the side netting.

A bit of central area battling followed with Anderton and Faulkner winning the tussle.

17 minutes gone and Lanahan won a tackle just outside the PB box. Truan quickly moved the ball on to Dyer and a volley hit the back of the net giving us a 1-0 lead.

We were enjoying most of the play but signs of a PB recovery were evident as Fawcett had to make a couple of saves from hopeful shots.

Elysee helped their cause with a neat pass back allowing the centre forward freedom to run on goal. Fawcett again sprang to assist and a throw out to Lanahan put Sam in space. Borough backed off and Lanahan took the opportunity of 32 minutes saw Anderton awarded a penalty. The keeper dived left and palmed out the ball. Homer hammered the rebound past the keeper claiming his second goal of the season.

35 minutes gone and Truan hammered a low shot that the keeper did well to hold.

Elysee had a shot saved and Faulkner's header with 5 minutes left curled over the bar.

A flurry of activity followed with Borough pushing forward. Jones and Deare combined well to relieve the pressure and then Evans made a sliding tackle look easy as he relieved the centre forward of the ball in the 6 yard box.

The half finished 2-1.

The two Moores came on along with Ben Giles. Borough's changes gave a bit more zip to their play and we had to defend with numbers as we were pushed back. We weathered the storm and got ourselves together. Lanahan released Homer just outside the box and a Homer blaster hit a low flying seagull. If anyone see's a bird in a coat one cold night, that's the one that shed its feather's on the pitch.

We then had a spell that would be classified as a cure for insomnia. Passes went astray, both defences looked 'iffy' and there was no fire at all.

A flash of inspiration from Dyer and his cross field ball gave Homer another chance to atone for his sins. He didn't waste this one and an excellent volley gave us a 3-1 score line.

The 'Moores' added some enthusiasm into the mix and we looked reasonably solid. except for 4 minutes to go when we allowed an attack to filter through to make it 3-2.

Dean Evans was his usual self and had a good game at centre half. Adie Arnold had employed a football statistician for the game and Dean's result was 34 passes made...4 to our players....28 to the opposition and.... 2 to the spectators. Adie was thrilled with his improvement.