Ground News

After a visit to Tatnam the Wessex Ground Grading Committee have given Poole Town a resounding thumbs up with regard to Wessex Division 1 football next season. Poole Town now need to finish in the top two to ensure promotion to Wessex 1.

Poole Town  4  V  0  Ringwood Town  -  Wessex League Division 2

The second home game of the Easter break saw the visit of local rivals Ringwood Town to Tatnam. With only one Dolphins win in the previous six visits of Ringwood the Poole players knew they would need to be on their game from the start if the three points were to be secured. With Cornick, Spalding, Goodbody and Lee Manning all unavailable for various reasons, back came Funnell, Woolfenden, Collins and Bayston to the starting line-up.

The first half saw very little action as both teams cancelled each other out despite Poole having the majority of possession. On 14 minutes a Funnell freekick on the edge of the box whistled just over the bar. A Funnell volley on 40 minutes was well saved low to the keeper's left and that was it for the Poole chances in the first half. On the stroke of half time Ringwood had their best chance of the match when a deflected shot dropped in the box but the visiting player could only drag his volley wide of the left hand post. Half-time: 0-0.

The second half was an entirely different matter as Poole produced numerous chances and finished a good few of them as well. On 51 minutes a ball into the box found the keeper in no-man's land and Collins looped a header high over him and watched it bounce into the net. This was the spur Poole needed and they really played some excellent football from then on. On 56 minutes Woolfenden cut in and his fierce shot was palmed away for a corner. Funnell delivered from the right and Taffy Richardson rose highest to thump a header past the keeper to double the lead.

On 71 minutes Chivers replaced Brown and Sturgess replaced Funnell. Once Sam Dobbs replaced Woolfenden this saw five youngsters on the pitch (Sturgess, Chivers, Bayston, Bartlett, Dobbs). The fact that Poole played to the same high standard is an absolute credit to these players and to the whole reserve set up under Kevin Jackson. They have all been outstanding this season and at no time has the team ever been weakened by the introduction of any of these players - or any of the others who have stepped up from the reserves.

On 75 minutes Collins beat the offside trap on the right and as the keeper advanced he squared the ball to Chivers but from 2 yards out he managed to screw his shot wide with an open goal beckoning.

Collins picked up a red card (presumably for dissent?) on 87 minutes which completed another miserable day for the referee. He was, as he always is, dreadful. Enough said.

Chivers made up for his earlier miss on 89 minutes with a bizarre goal.
Ringwood had a freekick out by their own corner flag. The defender attempted to play it straight across his own area to the other full back but succeeded in only passing it straight to Chivers. He raced forward, rounded the keeper and thumped the ball home for his 10th of the season.

The scoring was completed in the 93rd minute. Poole had a freekick just outside of the box but right next to the goal line. Faced by a two man wall Sturgess rolled the ball to the side of the wall and Richardson nipped in to flick the ball in at the near post.

Poole: Scriven, Cherrett, Richardson, Bayston, Woolfenden (Dobbs), Bartlett, Funnell (Sturgess), White, Woods, Brown (Chivers), Collins

Poole Town  2  V  0  Alresford Town  -  Wessex League Division 2

On a sunny Easter Saturday lunchtime the Dolphins continued their league campaign with a home game against Alresford Town. After the 2-1 reverse at Alresford earlier in the season Poole were out to make sure they collected all three points this time. Gary Funnell was absent through illness again and Joe Collins is still away with work commitments.

Poole started the match well and took the lead as early as the 6th minute. A Lee Manning shot was was well saved but Brown followed up and his shot struck the arm of a defender and the referee awarded a penalty. Lee Manning made no mistake from the spot. A second penalty should have followed on ten minutes when Brown was cynically chopped in the area, a stonewall penalty but this time the referee waved play on. Even with the linesman flagging for the foul the ref ignored him and play amazingly continued.

On 16 minutes Taffy Richardson took a quick freekick and sent Cornick clear in the box - his weak toe poke bringing a save from the visiting keeper however. Poole secured the points on 35 minutes. Goodbody produced a great diagonal ball inside the last defender and Stuart Brown nipped in to volley over the advancing keeper to record his 16th goal of the season. Half-time: 2-0.

Poole controlled most of the second half with Alresford rarely breaking into the Poole half and certainly the home goal never looked like it would be threatened. On 68 minutes a ball over the top saw Brown through but as the ball dropped he dragged his volley wide of the left hand post. Chances were few and far between and the last decent chance came on 90 minutes when substitute Chivers held the ball up well before setting up Goodbody but his volley flashed just over.

At the end of the game Alresford had a fairly good appeal for a penalty turned down by the referee but it was all too late as the ref blew up to signal a 2-0 win for the Dolphins.

Poole: Scriven, Cornick, Spalding (Bayston), Cherrett, Bartlett, White, Woods, Richardson, L. Manning, Brown (Chivers), Goodbody

Poole Town  0  V  0  Thatcham Town  -  Wessex League Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg
Thatcham Town win 3-0 on aggregate.

Unfortunately no full match report available.

Courtesy of Matchday Programme.

Early chances fell to Poole but no breakthrough came, the team matched the Division 1 team on the night and the visitors failed generally to put the Poole goal under threat. So Thatcham went on to the final thanks to a 3-0 win on home ground three weeks earlier. The minus was a large number of of yellows and 2 red cards on 93 minutes for keeper Scriven and captain Neal Spalding.

Poole: Scriven, Cornick, Spalding, Cherrett, Woods, Woolfenden (Bayston), White, Richardson, L. Manning (Bartlett), Brown, Goodbody (Chivers)

AFC Aldermaston  0  V  6  Poole Town  -  Wessex League Division 2

Courtesy of Matchday Programme.

Teamwise there were many changes once again, both Lee Manning and Ryan Woolfenden were back after serving 7 day suspensions. Also back after suspension was Ollie Cherrett. While on the missing list were Carl Chivers and Gary Bartlett both on county youth duty. While away on holiday was Danny Woods, work accounted for Taffy Richardson and also missing was Gary Funnell. Thus Tom Killick made a rare appearance on a very sparse looking bench. The weather on the day was hot and sunny - amazing that two weeks prior a game was postponed due to snow and a frozen pitch. This time the pitch was hard, bumpy and dusty.

The home side had recently won four on the trot to take themselves out of the drop zone but it was soon obvious that a fifth was not on the cards as Poole dominated matters from the off. With just 50 seconds on the clock the ball struck the woodwork for the first time of the afternoon. Matty White was the disappointed one this time. It also became obvious that the keeper was not playing in his normal spot, it turned out that it was the centre half - and his efforts were more luck than judgement throughout the afternoon.

The first goal arrived on 11 minutes, Stuart Brown slamming the ball home from close range after a Paul Bayston effort had been blocked, 1-0. Efforts from the home side were rare and it took until the 18th minute before they ventured in the direction of the Poole goal. Amazingly it took until the 38th minute for a 2nd Town goal. It came after the keeper kicked away a Stuart Brown effort, and Peter Goodbody drove the ball back past him from 12 yards for a 2-0 lead. Half-time: 0-2.

Poole pressed again and pushed the home side into the right hand corner on 51 minutes. Then Brown crossed the ball from the right side and picked out Ryan Woolfenden on the far left of the 18 yard box and his effort went across the keeper and nestled into the bottom right hand corner, 3-0. Then on 60 minutes Bayston won possession in the midfield and he picked out Joe Collins who fired home from the right side of the box, despite the attentions of the home No. 3 Dean Bromley. 4-0. The assistant referee raised his flag but the goal stood. The home player was substituted just afterwards to avoid him collecting a card of some description.

68 minutes and it was 5-0, Brown stretching in to finish at the back post via a left side cross from Ollie Cherrett. 80 minutes saw the final goal with Collins rising in the six yard box to head home a Lee Manning cross.

Poole: Scriven, Cornick, Spalding, Cherrett, Bayston, Woolfenden (Sturgess), White, L. Manning, Collins, Brown, Goodbody

Poole Town  2  V  0  East Cowes VA  -  Wessex League Division 2

After 10 days without any football the Dolphins returned to action with a league game at home to East Cowes Vics.
Peter Goodbody made his home debut and his first full start and Taffy Richardson took his place in the back three with the absence of Lee Manning.

The first half was fairly scrappy with little flowing football from either side. Occasionally Poole got the ball down and started passing it about but much of the time saw the ball given away. On 10 minutes Carl Chivers was put through and although he won the race with the keeper to get to the ball, his clipped shot dropped just wide of the right hand post.

On 25 minutes it was Chivers again taking on the keeper. This time the keeper managed to palm the ball away but Chivers reacted quickest and his shot from a tight angle could only find the side netting. Five minutes later and Poole took the lead. The ball dropped about 30 yards out and Funnell unleashed a fierce left foot volley which beat the keeper on his left hand side.

The goal seemed to wake Poole up a bit and on 34 minutes Goodbody produced some good first touch control and his volley flashed just wide of the left hand post from 25 yards out. Half-time: 1-0.

Poole upped the tempo in the second half and the passing was much sharper and accurate as a result. However, on 52 minutes East Cowes created a great chance. A ball through the middle saw the Poole defence totally AWOL and with only the keeper to beat the visiting striker managed to push his shot wide of the post. On 65 minutes Funnell produced another great freekick but the Vic's keeper was able to get across and tip the ball superbly round the post.

Poole totally dominated the closing quarter of an hour and the second goal always seemed a matter of time. On 80 minutes Chivers and the excellent Bartlett produced a neat interchange on the edge of the box and Bartlett's shot was tipped away for a corner. From the corner the ball was played across the edge of the box and eventually Bartlett found space and this time his shot found the left hand corner of the net.

A workmanlike performance in the end saw Poole collect the three points fairly comfortably. Next stop - Aldermaston.

Poole: Scriven, Cornick, Spalding, Richardson, Bartlett, Goodbody (Bayston), White, Funnell (Sturgess), Woods, Chivers, Collins (Brown)

Fixture News

The away game at Andover New Street was postponed due to snow on pitch. New date awaited.

Thatcham Town  3  V  0  Poole Town  -  Wessex League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg

Poole travelled to Thatcham Town for the first leg of the much anticipated semi final clash but came away empty handed and with little chance of making the final. After all of the recent success it came as a huge blow to supporters when Poole started the game without a recognised striker. With Brown injured and Collins called away with work commitments at the last minute, it was a six man midfield boosted by the return of Taffy Richardson and a sole striker in the shape of Matty Hayfield. Whilst it was great to see Matty return it did seem a bit strange seeing him fighting a lonely battle up front!

From the outset it looked as though Poole were set up to contain Thatcham as best as they could so a goal conceded inside two minutes spoilt all of the Dolphin's plans. A short corner on the right saw the ball swung in and Perry rose to glance the ball over Scriven into the far corner. On 6 minutes Thatcham broke clean through but with the goal beckoning the striker could only scoop well over the bar. This was a worrying period for Poole as Thatcham showed why they are at the top end of Wessex 1. Every time Poole got the ball they were surrounded by two or three players and yet when the home side broke they had players in all sorts of space. It simply underlined the difference between the two sides at present and shows where Poole must get to if they gain promotion this season.

In fairness to Poole though they kept trying to play the right way, getting the ball down on the slippery surface and they did enjoy a good fifteen minute spell mid-way through the first half. However on 34 minutes a cross from the right eluded everyone except Cook and he struck the ball home from six yards to double Thatcham's lead. Six minutes later and another cross, this time from the left found two home players free but between them they could only muster a scuffed shot and Scriven did well to turn it round the post. Half-time: 2-0.

The second half followed a similar pattern as Thatcham proved just too good for Poole. On 58 minutes Thatcham got a freekick on the edge of the box and Campion produced a stunning freekick which curled into the top left hand corner of the net - Scriven had no chance. Poole continued to battle hard and again there were a few glimpses of the good flowing football they have played for most of the season. However, despite the efforts of Funnell, Woods and Richardson in the midfield they were unable to really fashion any decent chance at goal. On 65 minutes Thatcham really should have scored again when an initial shot was saved well by Scriven but the rebound was skewed wide from a few feet out with only an empty net to hit.

With Poole looking for an away goal it left increasing gaps at the back, especially on the left and Thatcham broke time and again and but for some good goalkeeping and some wayward shooting they could well have added a few more.

Whilst the tie is not over Poole will be looking forward to the return if only to gain the experience of playing against this type of opposition.

Poole: Scriven, Cornick, Spalding, L. Manning, Bartlett, Woolfenden (Sturgess), White, Funnell, Woods, Richardson, Hayfield (Chivers)