After the disappointing result at Liss on Saturday it was back to Tatnam for Poole Town as they took on Andover New Street. With some players unavailable (Jones, Elmes, Middleton) Matty Lovell made his first full start of the season and Taku Omoto partnered Jamie Holland up front.

Poole got off to a bright start and expectations were raised in the ninth minute when Andy Culliford arrived at the far post to head home a great cross from the right. The next five minutes saw shots flying in from all the Poole players as they looked to extend their early lead. Matty Lovell and Taku Omoto were both denied before Jamie Holland beat the keeper only to see his shot come back off the post. On 26 minutes it was Culliford again who popped up in the box, held off two or three challenges before firing his second goal of the night to make the score 2-0. James Bailey-Pearce tormented the New Street defence throughout the first half with some exciting wing play down the left. On 41 minutes it looked as though Culliford was going to collect his deserved hat-trick (he was superb all night) but his shot was cleared from under the bar by a defender on the line. Half-Time: 2-0.

Unfortunately the second half proved all too familiar to Poole supporters as they allowed a two goal lead to slip before finally rallying to secure the points. On 50 minutes keeper Colin Randall made a rare error (his first this year?) when he failed to cleanly gather a shot and a New Street player was able to nip in and pull a goal back. Five minutes later and worse was to follow when Matty Lovell was adjudged to have handled in the box (it hit him in the midriff) and New Street levelled the match from the spot. For much of the second half Poole looked a little jittery and New Street visibly grew in confidence. The tension was eased on 75 minutes when Andy Gater ghosted into the box and managed to stretch at the far post to slide in his second goal of the season. This goal seemed to kill off the visitors and with five minutes remaining Taku Omoto scored after Matty White's shot was saved and Jamie Holland finished the game off with a superbly struck shot inside the keeper's right hand post with practically the last kick of the game.

After Saturday's defeat it was vital that Poole capitalised on the fact that Vosper Thornycroft were not playing. This they did although 3 goals in the last 15 minutes provided a scoreline which belied the tension of the second half. With Vospers in cup action on Saturday The Dolphins have the opportunity of going back to the top if they can win at bottom of the table Lymington Town.

Poole: Randall, Gater, Pratt, Wood (Hills), Avery, Culliford, Lovell (Maloney), White, Bailey-Pearce, Holland, Omoto
Unused Sub: Moore

Fixture News

A friendly has been arranged for next Tuesday night when Poole Town will take on Salisbury City at Tatnam with a 7.30pm kick-off.

After the shock home defeat by Liss on the opening day of the season (Poole's only league defeat this season) The Dolphins travelled to deepest Hampshire determined to set the record straight. With a full squad to choose from manager Peter Moore opted for the same team that performed so well at Brading the week before.

In a reasonable start to the match Poole showed the early signs of breaking through. On 6 minutes Bailey-Pearce broke clear on the left but his shot flashed past the post with only the keeper to beat. On 22 minutes a tussle between Andy Gater and the Liss No. 10 resulted in the Liss player being sent off after aiming a kick at Gater while the Poole man lay on the ground. With Liss down to 10 men so early it seemed a formality that Poole would take charge of the match but it was the home side who found themselves creating more and more space as the game wore on. On 38 minutes Poole had the ball in the back of the net and with the referee already signalling a goal the linesman (who had not made one decision all afternoon) decided to flag for a push in the area. Why the referee, who was next to the players involved, now allowed the linesman some 30 yards away to overrule him is anyone's guess - it was a bad decision by both officials and left the game level. With chances drying up for Poole the teams left the field all square. Half-time: 0-0.

The second half promised much but delivered little. Tony Avery hit a fierce right foot shot just past the post on 49 minutes and Jamie Holland found himself in the book a minute later after a culmination of spats between him and various Liss defenders. Liss set their stall out to defend and hit on the break and did the job superbly. They played as though their lives depended on it (just like the opening day of the season) and threw themselves into every tackle and block. With ten men for so long it was very impressive to see such commitment and although not pretty it was certainly effective and left Poole with no idea (again) on how to break down a determined defence. Moore made changes as the match progressed - Jones, Fletcher and Matty Lovell replacing White, Avery (injured) and Paul Maloney respectively but it made no difference. Eight minutes remained and Randall reacted superbly in the Poole goal to pull off a fine save and suddenly Liss believed they could nick the points. Four minutes from time and they did just that, their striker racing Colin Randall to catch a loose ball and managing to tuck it just inside the post. In all honesty Liss could have added another couple in the dying minutes as Poole left huge gaps at the back, one shot leaving Randall stranded but hitting the post and going wide.

The final whistle was met by whoops of joy from the Liss players and bench and why not? They are not a particularly good side (as the league table confirms) but they managed to secure a famous league double over Poole Town by demonstrating that sometimes it really does come down to who wants to win it the most. On both occasions this season Poole have met a determined side and sadly been unable to find a way through. Not good enough.

Poole: Randall, Gater, Pratt, Wood, Culliford, Maloney (Lovell), White (Fletcher), Bailey-Pearce, Avery (Jones), Holland, Elmes

On Wednesday evening Poole Town ran out 7-1 winners against Holt United in the friendly at Tatnam. The Dolphins led 2-1 at half time through a Jamie Holland brace and totally dominated the second half with further goals from Louic Rocher, Paul Maloney, Taku Omoto, Gary Fletcher and an own goal. It was a successful run out for a number of players and it was good to see Matty Lovell come through 90 minutes of football.

Unfortunately a full match report is unavailable for Poole's trip to the Isle of Wight.

With Poole having dropped so many points on the Island in recent years this was a terrific result for The Dolphins who move to within 5 points of Vospers with 2 games in hand.

Poole Town led 1-0 at half time after Jamie Holland scored the most unbelievable goal. From fully 30 yards out he hit a first time volley which was still rising as it screamed into the top corner and nearly removed the net from the goal.

It was Holland who scored again in the second half to put Poole two up but yet again Andy Gater managed to concede a penalty which Brading gratefully converted. This set up a tense finish as Brading piled on the pressure but the Poole defence managed to remain firm and claim an excellent result.

Poole: Randall, Gater, Pratt, Wood, Culliford, Maloney, White, Bailey-Pearce, Avery, Holland, Elmes
Subs: Fletcher, Omoto, Jones

Fixture News

A friendly has been arranged for next Wednesday night when Poole Town will take on Holt United at Tatnam with a 7.30pm kick-off.

Poole Town's second evening game under the new lights saw the visit of Hythe & Dibden to Tatnam. In a fairly changed team new striker Keith Middleton made his debut while James Wood made his first full start for the club whilst Darren Elmes was rested and Tony Avery was sick.

On 12 minutes Middleton cut in from the left hand side and his fierce right footed shot was tipped round the post by the Hythe keeper. The first half became quite a dour affair with the battle becoming bogged down in the midfield. On 32 minutes Poole should have taken the lead when Middleton again raced clear. Rather than squaring the ball to Rowley who was racing into the area free, Middleton decided to shoot but his scuffed shot was deflected by the keeper away to safety. Three minutes to the break and it was Middleton again who raced clear of the Hythe defence. With the keeper
advancing he fired in a good shot but the keeper managed again to get a touch and the ball bounced over the bar when a goal looked likely. With supporters believing that it would be level at the break Rowley broke away on the stroke of half time and neatly slotted the ball into the corner of the net. Half-time: 1-0.

Again without playing particularly well Poole managed to control the game but on the hour Hythe enjoyed their best period of the match. A quickly taken freekick on 60 minutes caught the Poole defence out but Randall pulled off a fine save and just minutes later Hythe earned themselves a dubious penalty when their striker was adjudged to have been brought down
in the area. Colin Randall again underlined his importance to the team when he guessed the right way and pushed the resulting spot kick round the post for a corner - perhaps justice was done. Having been denied several times already Middleton again broke clear on 71 minutes but his shot was expertly tipped away by the Hythe keeper who was obviously in fine form.

Undoubtedly the best sight of the night came on 78 minutes when Matty Lovell appeared from the bench for his long awaited return from injury. As regular supporters are aware Matty suffered ligament damage some 15 months ago when Poole visited Bishops Waltham last season. It has been a very long road for the midfielder and it will still be some time before he will be match fit. But just the sight of Lovell back in a Poole shirt was enough to lift the spirits of everyone connected with the club and we wish him well in his recovery. His return to full fitness cannot come soon enough.............

On 83 minutes substitute Taku Omoto found himself in space and as the keeper came out he pushed the ball through the keeper's legs to secure the three points for The Dolphins.

Poole: Randall, Gater, Pratt, Wood, Jones (Fletcher), Culliford (Lovell), Maloney, White, Holland, Middleton (Omoto), Rowley

Poole Town continued their run of home games with the visit of Winchester City. City, who merged with neighbours Winchester Castle at the start of the season, have spent a lot of money and made a lot of noise about winning the league and moving straight up to the Wessex League. Having suffered three league defeats prior to their visit to Tatnam (and sacking their manager in that time) it was vital for them to get a result in order to stay in touch with the league leaders.
Chris Pratt came back into the defence for Poole and Andy Culliford also made a welcome return after a couple of games absent.

City made their intentions clear as early as the fifth minute when a superb freekick from just outside the area left Randall stranded but crashed back off of the crossbar. A minute later and Poole created their first chance - Matt White, who had an excellent game, broke clear on the right but the keeper saved his shot low down.
There were very few chances in the rest of the first half as both sides maintained a very tight midfield battle. It was clear that a single goal could settle the game and everyone was making sure that they didn't make any mistakes. Casual play from Andy Gater on 20 minutes could have provided a breakthrough but after rounding Colin Randall a Winchester City player hit a tame shot towards goal which Poole were able to clear. Half-time: 0-0.

Again the second half offered up very few goalscoring opportunities but Poole got the vital goal on 61 minutes. Andy Culliford broke down the left, looked up to see Rowley racing into the box and delivered a superb cross into his path for the striker to hit first time past the keeper into the net. New signing from Lymington & New Milton James Wood came on for Martin Jones and looked very solid at the back for the remaining half hour. With 15 minutes left Poole nearly went two up when Omoto (on for Elmes) got up brilliantly at the far post to head a Maloney cross against the inside of the post before the ball was hacked clear. Another defensive slip on 79 minutes should have resulted in a City equaliser but with three strikers bearing down on the Poole goal Randall managed to pull off another fine save to keep his clean sheet intact.

As expected City pressed forward in the dying minutes but the Poole defence held firm and despite the referee playing 10 minutes injury time (??) The Dolphins held on to secure the points.

This was a much better performance from Poole against a decent City side and with Vospers and Alton Town also losing The Dolphins are back into second with games in hand.

Poole: Randall, Avery, Gater, Jones (Wood), Pratt, Maloney, Culliford, White (Fletcher), Elmes (Omoto), Holland, Rowley

Fixture News

A new fixture has been arranged for next Saturday 17th November. Instead of another blank Saturday Poole Town will now travel to the Isle of Wight to take on Brading Town in the Hampshire Premier League.

The away game against Vosper Thornycroft has been rearranged to Tuesday 18th December.

Following the midweek exit from the Dorset Senior Cup it was back to league action for Poole Town as they took on Stockbridge at Tatnam. Unlike last season Stockbridge have had a poor start to the season and Poole supporters looked forward to catching the top teams who were all involved in cup competitions.

The opening twenty minutes proved fairly scrappy with neither team able to find a rhythm as the game centred on a midfield battle. On 24 minutes Andy Gater hit a fine ball over the top of the defence and Jamie Holland sprinted after it. With the keeper out from his area Holland nipped the ball past him and fired home from an acute angle for his 6th of the season. Two minutes later and Poole doubled their lead. Good work on the right saw Matt White break clear and he rifled it past the keeper into the far corner. Poole continued to control the rest of the first half with few further chances being created. A slip from Gater on 42 minutes allowed a Stockbridge forward to nip in but Randall got down superbly to turn the ball away for a corner. Half-time: 2-0.

If the first half provided a decent performance from the Dolphins the second half proved how inconsistent the team are at the moment. Leading comfortably the Poole players failed completely to finish the game off. Giving Stockbridge plenty of time and space on the ball the visitors confidence visibly grew and it came as no surprise when they scored a well worked goal on 55 minutes. Eleven minutes later and they carved the Poole defence open again to level the match and four minutes after that Stockbridge took a 3-2 lead with the sort of attacking flair that Poole could only dream of producing. The pattern of the second half was clear for all to see - Stockbridge did all the simple things well, passed, moved and created space - Poole stuck to the same routine of passing the ball back and forward across the back three before, inevitably, Gater would send a long ball over the defence for the Poole forwards to chase. With defeat looking likely (and deserved) Poole equalised with eleven minutes remaining - Rowley stole the ball, ran in towards goal and unselfishly squared the ball for Elmes to tap in at the far post.

With a lot of talk about gaining the necessary ground requirements for Wessex League football next season, the overriding priority is to finish in the top three and performances like this will not see that happen. With Winchester City travelling to Tatnam next week Poole will need to find a huge improvement to get anything out of the game. The players are good enough, no doubt about it, but whether they produce it remains to be seen.

Poole: Randall, Mooney, Avery, Gater, Jones, Rocher (Fletcher), Maloney, White, Elmes, Holland, Rowley
Unused Subs: Pratt, Omoto