Tails (20) projecting from an electrical component (12) that lies on a circuit board surface, are terminated to traces on a multi-layer circuit board (14) in a manner that minimizes the disadvantages of long through hole soldering and of surface mount techniques. A blind hole is drilled and plated in a first layer (31) that will become the topmost layer of the stack, to form a shallow well (70). The well is filled with a soldering composition (130). A tail (20) is projected downward into the soldering composition, and the soldering composition is heated to solder the tail to the hole plating.