What an unbelievable result for Boro against a strong Poole Town side in this last qualifying stage of the Cup.
After a dull opening 30 minutes where neither side created much in the way of chances the game changed when an errant challenge by Lionel Stone was deemed to be dangerous play by the referee and a penalty was awarded to Poole.
Up stepped stepped Devlin who coolly slotted past Pajetat who dived the way we told him having spied on Poole at Gosport only a few days earlier !! Devlin proved too clever for that one !
The goal finally awoke Boro from their slumber and they at last began to seize control and press forward .
Staunton had a clear chance right on half time but failed to trouble Cairney in the Poole goal.
0-1 Halftime
A resurgent boro came out all guns blazing in the second half and totally dominated possession. A mixture of great saves by Cairney, poor misses and bad luck seemed to dog Boro and it looked as though they were not destined to score. At the other end a game changing moment when Gillespie was put clean through on the counter and with only Pajetat to beat he struck the inside of the post and as a Poole forward ran onto the loose ball for a simple tap in Pajetat somehow ran back and dived to smother . That seemed to galvanise Boro even more and they deservedly equalised with 13 minutes to play when sub Sambu struck and mayhem ensued . The crowd were now in top form and the Boro songs began to flow. Boro pressed again in search of a winner and it duly arrived on 83 minutes when Akinwande sprung the offside trap and his well saved effort flew high into the air and landed on the goal line for Nouble to touch home. Que Pandemonium . Now the first round was a reality and although Poole tried their best to get back into the game Boro held on for one of the best days in their history .
Line up:
Pajetat, Olufemi,O’donoghue,Stone,Kirby,Mitchell,Ademiluyi,Arest1 ( Sambu 71 ),Mckenzie ( Richards 82 ),Staunton ( Akinwande 68 ) ,Nouble
Unused Subs Byfield Rowe,Loizou
