After four unconvincing performances in recent weeks Poole supporters' worst fears were confirmed as they were easily swept aside at home by V.T.F.C. Whilst the Willand defeat in the Vase was annoying the manner of this defeat was simply embarrassing and even the visitors took their foot off the pedal in the last 15 minutes to save the Dolphins from an even bigger scoreline. Andy Gater returned to the defence and Callum Burt partnered Leigh Cornick up front.

Although it took until the 45th minute for Vospers to take the lead the signs for the game were ominous from the very first whistle as the visitors were simply quicker, stronger and far more inventive right across the pitch. The early exchanges were fairly even but although there were no real clear cut chances it was Vospers who always looked the more dangerous going forward. The first (and only) chance for Poole came in the 37th minute when a cross from the Burt on the right was met by Lee Manning but his left foot shot was dragged wide of the post. VTFC struck on the stroke of half time - another pacey run down the left went unchecked and as the Poole defence backed off the Vospers player teed up and fired the ball home all too easily. Half-time: 0-1.

The second half was a nightmare. The defence went completely AWOL for the whole second period and the Poole midfield failed to make a tackle at all. On 48 minutes a cross from the left found a Vospers player completely free in the box and he volleyed into the corner. A simple flick on 66 minutes gave the visitors a three goal lead. Darren Mooney then reacted to a Vospers challenge and definitely caught the player in the chest. The referee gave a freekick but only issued Mooney with a yellow card. As the ref had seen it (and he was right) then the card should have been red, no question.

Despite several substitutions for Poole the pattern remained the same and a fine passing move on 74 minutes ended with a simple tap-in goal for Vospers. Four minutes later and a single striker found himself with acres of room despite three defenders and he volleyed home to complete the rout.

Unfortunately this has been coming for a while. Whilst a big boot up the field with the hope that it might bounce to a Poole player will be sufficient against the likes of Brading and Aldermaston, it simply is never going to work against a half decent side. It seems every time Poole meet a good side they are unable to answer the questions posed of them. The players know they are a lot better than this - it is time they started proving it.

Poole: Potter, Gater, Mooney, Woodward, Wood, Evans, L. Manning, P. Manning (M. Morris), White (Muir), Cornick, Burt (Maloney)

No full match report available.
By all accounts a very entertaining match played at a terrific pace. Half-time 0-0.
62 mins - Lee Manning scored after great run and cross from right by Callum Burt
65 mins - Ham Rec equalised
75 mins - Lee Manning bagged his second to secure Poole win.

The club are also hopeful of signing another Wessex League striker this week. Hopefully more on this later in the week..........

New signing Nigel Evans from Bridport took his place in the centre of the Poole defence for the visit of Ringwood in the new Floodlit Cup competition. With the other new signing Stuart Brown on the bench to begin with and Paul Manning passing a fitness test the Dolphins looked in good shape to continue their good start to the season.

However, all the planning in the world means nothing when a referee as bad as Mr Hopkins comes along and makes a complete joke of the match from the perspective of both sides. No doubt this will be seen as 'Poole Town moaning about referees again..........' but how else can you report on a match when it is totally dominated by the man in the middle?

Poole started very well and indeed dominated the entire first half with some good incisive football and attacking play down the flanks. It wasn't quite the 6-1 demolition of Ringwood from just three weeks ago but the chances kept being carved out throughout the game. On 5 minutes Darren Reeks delivered a good pass between defenders and Leigh Cornick's shot was well stopped by the keeper. A minute later and a Woodward freekick saw Cornick beat the keeper to the ball but his header flew just over the bar.

Ten minutes gone and Woodward worked a very good one-two and his final cross was met by Cornick again and his shot flew over the bar again with the keeper beaten. A great move on 16 minutes saw Cornick turn and send Paul Manning sprinting down the right but the move again failed to deliver the goal. Four minutes later and a Paul Manning cross was met by Lee Manning and it was his turn to unleash a volley which narrowly whistled just wide. On 28 minutes Lee Manning flicked a goal kick on and a Ringwood defender nearly scored an own goal as his attempted back pass looped over the keeper but bounced just wide.

Poole were really buzzing at this stage and the match resembled the league encounter minus the crucial goals. 32 minutes and Paul Manning hit a perfect pass with the outside of his right foot and Carl Woodward unleashed a thunderous volley from a tight angle which cannoned back off the post. On 35 minutes Ringwood produced their first chance of the night when a header from a corner was cleared off the Poole line to safety.

Ah yes - the referee! Nearly forgot. On 40 minutes a Poole corner resulted in the Ringwood keeper injured on the ground. Whilst the physio worked on the keeper the referee awarded Poole a penalty (not sure why!) and Lee Manning stood on the penalty spot waiting to take the kick. At this point the Ringwood players (led by Jason Lovell of course!) surrounded the referee and made their views clear. As soon as the keeper was back on his feet the referee then changed his mind and to the amazement of all present (including Ringwood players and manager) he awarded Ringwood a freekick in the six yard box! Whilst players can often bring problems upon themselves there is no doubt that this decision undermined the whole position of the referee and knowing how he could change his mind, players from both sides spent the rest of the match accusing one another of every crime going. Knowing his position was now untenable the referee resorted to the age old solution of booking anyone for anything. Darren Reeks, Lee Manning (for the best tackle of the night!) and Paul Manning all entered the book in the last two or three minutes of the half. Half-time: 0-0.

Poole took the lead on 54 minutes. Another excellent corner from Woodward was knocked in at the far post by skipper James Wood. This seemed to wake Ringwood up and they levelled the game just four minutes later. A corner was met by Jason Lovell and his header went in off the underside of the bar. It was back to square one for Poole and on 62 minutes Stuart Brown came off the bench to replace Lee Manning. 65 minutes gone and the bizarre turned into the ridiculous. Paul Manning threw the ball back to a Ringwood player (a friend of his by the way!), the referee deemed he had thrown the ball away, produced a second yellow card and Manning was sent off! A minute later Brown, who had been on the field for just four minutes, met a cross from Cornick on the right and he placed his header into the corner to give ten-man Poole the lead once again.

Despite being a man down Poole continued to play two up and ultimately this cost the team the win. Cornick and Evans plus a few Ringwood players all entered the referees book in the remaining minutes and Ringwood began to look increasingly dangerous on the break. Sure enough, on 85 minutes a cross from the right was met by Lovell again and his class made the score 2-2. Having scored 15 goals in 11 games for Poole just a few years back, Lovell has now hit 5 goals against Poole in the last four meetings between Poole and Ringwood, not failing to score in any of those games!

Though not a great result, Poole will be pretty pleased with the way they played for much of the game and expectations will still be high when the second leg takes place next month. Carl Woodward produced another man-of-the-match performance - his defending was solid and his delivery into the box from freekicks, corners and crosses was simply superb. Matty White and Leigh Cornick also contributed with excellent performances.

Needless to say the funniest comment of the night came from the referee. The ref's inability to make decisions or control the game led to so many stoppages that there was a total of 12 minutes of injury time throughout the game. With only two minutes left the referee shouted at a Ringwood player "No. 8 - could you hurry up with the corner please!" And this from the guy who had prevented supporters getting home about 20 minutes earlier!!

Poole: Potter, Mooney, Woodward, Wood, Evans, L. Manning (Brown), Reeks (Muir), P. Manning, White, M. Morris, Cornick

Some good news for Poole supporters as the club have announced the signing of two new players.

Nigel Evans (midfielder) has joined from Western League Bridport after playing 7 times for them already this season.

Stuart Brown (striker) rejoins Poole from Salisbury City. Fans will remember Brown making 3 appearances for Poole and scoring 2 good goals against Petersfield last season. At the time he looked a very good player indeed and his overall record at Salisbury would support that - 11 goals in 38 appearances, 13 as a substitute.

Andy Gater (neck) and Paul Manning look likely to miss the game against Ringwood tomorrow night.

Player Profile

Thanks go to Poole keeper Neil Potter for providing details for the latest player profile. For more details go here or click on the link to the left.

Report courtesy of the Daily Echo

POOLE Town may have experienced a tough week in football, losing player-coach Graham Kemp to Brockenhurst after going out of the FA Vase a week earlier, writes Andy Starmore.

But following another resounding 4-0 win at Brading the Dolphins are still sitting pretty at the top of the Hampshire League Premier League.

It was business as usual, as they have now notched up 25 goals in their opening five league outings, conceding just the one.

Joint manager Dean Mooney was delighted with the result, but says his side can play better.

"We'e not playing that well at the moment, but we're getting results," said Mooney.

"Brading had 11 men behind the ball, and we find a lot of teams play like that against us, to stop us playing.

"We're lacking a bit of confidence at the moment, but we're still top of the league. When we do get it right, the rest of the league will have to watch out."

Paul Maloney scored direct from a corner to give the Dolphins a 1-0 half time lead, with Darren Reeks, Ricky Muir and Leigh Cornick all netting after the break.

Poole: Potter, Gater (Morris 45), Woods, Mooney, Woodward, Maloney, Reeks, (Purchess 80), White, L Manning, Cornick, P Manning

Graham Kemp

Unfortunately Brockenhurst have continued to pursue their interest in Graham and he has now accepted the job as manager of the Wessex League club. Below are Graham's comments from the messageboard this weekend:-

"I am sorry to say I have decided to take the post of manager at Brock. I feel duty bound to give my reasons and hope that the Poole fans who are without doubt the best local fans around understand. Last year when I injured my knee I decided to hang up my boots but saw the season out with Poole. Deep down I really want to manage only but gave playing another go. Last week I broke my toe and this just confirmed to me that my future is in management. Jobs are few and far between and after deep thought I felt it may be a while before another job comes up. It was the hardest decision I have ever made and only hope the new friends I made at Poole will understand. I can't thank Chris Reeves , Dean , Mossy and the players enough and only hope you all go on to achieve all your aims this season. I have enjoyed my time at Poole and will follow your progress closely."

Whilst this is a massive blow to Poole, losing club captain and our 'rock' at the back, everyone wishes Kempy well for the future and our thanks go to him for the 18 games he played for Poole. Let's also hope that Brockenhurst have learnt to treat their managers better than they have in recent years...........

Poole's excellent start to the season came to an abrupt and disappointing end at Tatnam as they lost 4-0 in the 1st Qualifying round of the FA Vase. Everything appeared to be in place - the pitch looked superb, the weather was fine and a healthy crowd all added to a great cup atmosphere before the game. With Poole drawn at home in the opening two qualifying rounds there was a real sense that the Dolphins could put together a decent cup run and earn some solid money from the competition.

The first blow came before the match started - Paul Manning was involved in a road traffic accident en route to the ground but fortunately he was unharmed, though shaken. Only arriving at 3.30pm Paul had to start as a substitute and this meant that Nick Miles had to start at right wing back instead of up front alongside Leigh Cornick.

From the start it was clear that Poole had a battle on their hands as Willand proved to be strong, physical and well organised. The opening 15 minutes was played at a frantic pace with both sides trying to take the upper hand. Poole created the first decent chance. Matty White played a ball into Lee Manning on the edge of the box and he held it up well before laying the ball off to Cornick whose fierce shot was well saved low down to the keeper's right. It was increasingly Willand who looked the more dangerous on the break and every high ball into the Poole area seemed to cause panic in the home defence. It was under these circumstances that Poole conceded a penalty on 20 minutes and Willand duly took the lead.

The game continued to be an open one and on 30 minutes a Cornick header from a freekick beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by a defender. Two minutes later and Willand were nearly two up. Potter produced a fine double save to deny the visitors, the second pushing the ball onto a post before bouncing clear. Half-time: 0-1.

Two minutes into the second half and Willand got the crucial second goal. Another high ball into the box saw the striker beat Potter to the ball and he nodded into an empty net. Poole were now chasing the game and increasing frustration led to bookings for Mooney,, Kemp, Lee Manning and Gater. This frustration was also aided by the referee Mr Beale who, despite his experience, was absolutely hopeless. Not only did he fail to keep up with play but his decisions for both sides were shocking. Well done Mr Beale -  you spoilt an otherwise very entertaining game.

On 61 minutes another high ball was dropped by Potter allowing an easy tap in for the Willand player and on 73 minutes they should have scored again but the striker pushed the ball wide after being sent clean through against the keeper. The misery was complete in the last minute when Willand sprang the offside trap again and they raced away to plant the ball in the right hand corner, 0-4.

A disappointing result but perhaps more so because Poole didn't actually play too bad. Against any Hampshire League side this would probably have been good enough to win but it only highlighted the gap between where Poole are now and where they must get to in the future. Based on this performance it's fair to say that Willand would probably win the Hampshire Premier league - and they are currently bottom of their Western League Division 1..........

Poole: Potter, Kemp, Woodward, Gater, Wood, L. Manning, Reeks (P. Manning), White, Mooney (M. Morris), N. Miles, Cornick (Burt)

Division 1 Verwood Town were the visitors to Tatnam for the first cup game of the season as Poole embarked on their quest to win the Trophyman Cup for a third time. With White, Cornick, Wood and Reeks all rested on the bench it was a chance for players such as Paul Maloney, Ricky Muir and Nick Miles to get their first full starts of the season.

Despite the changes Poole produced a very lacklustre first half and this obviously inspired Verwood to produce a very good performance. From the start the visitors were quicker to the ball and looked a lot hungrier for the win than Poole did. The flowing attractive football supporters have got used to at Tatnam had completely disappeared and it was only as the game wore on that chances began to arise.

It took until the 30th minute for the first real chance of the game and goalkeeper Neil Potter needed to get down well to his right to tip a Verwood header around the post for a corner. Just prior to the break Verwood created another gilt edged chance when a completely free header in the box was put wide of the post. Half-time: 0-0.

Poole came out a little brighter in the second half and on 47 minutes a big clearance from Woodward was missed by the Verwood defender and Nick Miles raced away. As he closed on goal his shot was aimed straight at the keeper who made a comfortable save. On 63 minutes Morrell was forced to bring on Cornick and immediately he and Nick Miles looked more dangerous up front. On 70 minutes a corner was flicked on and Miles unleashed a fierce volley which cannoned off the post away to safety.

With supporters beginning to think that extra time may be required Poole finally broke the deadlock on 75 minutes. A fierce shot was parried by the keeper and substitute Callum Burt nipped in to score from the rebound. On 85 minutes the Dolphins made sure when Miles again broke clear but this time he rounded the keeper and side-footed the ball home for a well earned goal.

In fairness to Verwood their effort never dropped and on 88 minutes they deserved to pull a goal back. Two successive corners caused the Poole defence problems and after one header cannoned back off the bar, another follow-up header also hit the woodwork before going over for a goalkick. Credit must go to Verwood for producing a fighting display and there is no doubt that they could hold their own in the Hampshire Premier with this side.

With this win Poole will now face Division 1 Fleetlands at Tatnam in the 2nd round - date to be confirmed.

Poole: Potter, Kemp, Woodward, Gater, L. Manning (Cornick), P. Manning, Muir (White), Mooney, M. Morris, Maloney (Burt),   N. Miles

On Saturday rumours were rife that Graham Kemp was going to leave to possibly become the Brockenhurst manager.
I can today confirm that Chris Reeves has spoken to Graham and that he will not be leaving and has decided not to even apply for the vacant position at Brock. As well as staying at Poole Town Kemp has also agreed to become player coach at the club underlining his commitment to the Dolphins.

This is fantastic news for the club as there is no doubt that Kemp's departure would have a bigger impact on the team than the loss of Benssaouda during his ban (or the loss of any other player as well!) Kemp's impact in defence since joining has been tremendous and the 14 goals conceded in the 16 games he has played for Poole speaks for itself. In the 16 games prior to him joining Poole conceded 33 goals last season - no coincidence surely.