23/07/2010 Report by Toby Meyjes at the Rushmoor Stadium

A second half brace from Bradley Bubb ensured Boro ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against an AFC Wimbledon XI at the Rushmoor Stadium on Friday night delivering a first win of the pre-season

The relatively easy victory will surely come as big relief to Steve King whose side have failed to pick up a win in their previous three outings. Three successive 1-0 defeats at home to Reading and Southampton and away to St. Neots Town had left Boro without a win or a goal to show for some otherwise impressive performances.

King opted to start with a mix of trialists and established squad players and would have been pleased with the start as Boro began to apply early pressure to their South London opponents.

Any early anxiety would have been appeased in the fourth minute when James Smith headed the ball home off a Dwayne Clarke corner.

Boro had a great chance to double the lead shortly after the hour mark when Craig-Braham Barrett won a deserved penalty. However, the usually reliable Dean McDonald saw his attempt slip agonisingly wide.

Yet, the home side did not relent and in the 72^nd minute their persistence paid off when Bubb collected a pull back from Nic Ciardini to make it two.

Shortly afterwards Bubb was to make it two for him and three Boro on the night with a clinical finish after being put through on goal by a bundled through ball.

King will have been elated with the way his side played and is bound have a bit of a headache trying to decide the fate of the group of trialists after some promising displays.

Initially lining up in a 4-4-2 Boro looked the more impressive of the two teams as they began to find their rhythm early on. In the fourth minute some positive offensive play caused their opponents to concede a corner of which they took full advantage. Left winger Clarke delivered a high cross to the back post finding Smith completely unmarked to nod the ball into the back of the net.

It was the least Boro deserved and they continued to apply pressure in search of a second. Strikers Ashley Robinson and Joey Benjamin began to look more and more dangerous as the half progressed combining well in the eighteenth minute only for Robinson to volley over.

Robinson again went close five minutes later when a Sacha Opinel overlap provided Clarke room to deliver a telling ball into the box. The impressive John Challinor rose above his marker to head the ball in to the path of Robinson; however the striker saw his attempted tap in drift harmlessly wide.

It was all looking fairly straightforward for the home side until Dominic Jean-Zephirin almost gifted AFC Wimbledon an equaliser when he was caught napping by striker Billy Joe King

The Farnborough keeper was completely unaware of King lurking behind him as he rolled the ball in front of himself ready to kick upfield. The striker, in a Robbie Keane-esque moment, tried to steal the ball from under Jean-Zephirin’s nose however fortunately he was unable to gain full control allowing the back line to clear the danger.

The half time interval presented Steve King the chance to make some changes and he opted to send out a more recognisable side in the second half in the more familiar 4-3-3 formation, he used to great effect against Southampton. However, as is often the case with friendlies the mass changes disrupted the flow of the game and it took Farnborough a little bit of time to find their rhythm in the second half.

King had brought on Michael Jordan for Jean-Zephirin at half time and the keeper was forced into an impressive save just after the break from a rasping AFC Wimbledon free-kick.

Yet, just as the away side looked to be getting back in to the game Boro re-asserted their dominance.

Braham-Barrett was becoming an increasing influence in the second half with his offensive runs down the right flank. Cutting inside he attempted to stick one in from range however his shot was deflected in to the path of Challinor who was only able to find the outside of the post.

Minutes later the fullback was again to prove effective. A surging run down the right hand flank proved too much for Wimbledon substitute Kayl Douglin to handle as he dragged down Braham-Barrett inside the penalty area giving McDonald a chance to score from the spot. But the usually cool striker placed his penalty just outside the post allowing the travelling support to temporarily breathe a sigh of relief. 

Spurred on by almost doubling the lead Boro began to search for a second and got it in the 72nd minute.

In a swift counter-attack Nic Ciardini was able to reach the edge of the opponent’s penalty box and attempted to pull the ball back for the onrushing strikers. His pass evaded McDonald in the middle but fell to Bubb at the back post. Still with a little bit of work to do Bubb slotted the ball home to make it 2-0.

The away side were by now on the ropes and begun to lose shape at the back and Bubb managed to bag a brace minutes later when a through ball put him ahead of the AFC Wimbledon defence. The striker took the ball in his stride and finished clinically to round off a convincing win for Boro.

Bubb’s winner capped off an excellent performance for Boro and it is certain Steve King will look to take the positive aspects of tonight’s success into the Tuesday night fixture at Godalming and the potentially tricky home tie to Wycombe Wanderers next Saturday.