Tuesday 29 September 2015

Bideford 1 Poole 2

Southern League Premier Division

29 September 2015


No blog from this game. A touch too far for a Tuesday evening! 

Scorers: Burbidge (36) Walker (81) Palmer (Bideford 86)

Sunday 27 September 2015

Hayes and Yeading Utd 2 Poole Town 3

 

FA Cup Round 2Q

 

27 September 2015

 

Maidenhead Utd moved to their York Road ground in 1871 making it "the oldest senior football ground continuously used by the same club". I would say that it is probably time to clean the toilets and fix the leak. Nomads Hayes and Yeading now also play their football here and judging by the low attendance (185), a return to Hayes is a pressing issue.

At 19th in the National League South to Poole's 6th in the Southern Premier League the gap between H&Y and Poole doesn't seem great but in the past it has proved that the step up to National League level is quite significant. This is how it looked when the game started with H&Y coming at Poole in waves as they looked for an early goal. It wasn't until 15 minutes had gone with Poole hanging on desperately that Poole got out of their own half and scored against the run of play. A corner was cleanly headed into the goal by Walker. H&Y tried to return to their normal game but were clearly put out by the setback and Poole began to get into the game. A break from Poole's half suddenly found Gillespie running onto a bouncing ball and with the keeper and defender hesitating he ran on and placed a perfect lob over the keeper and into the net. A shell shocked H&Y team gamely tried to raise their game but you could see the Dolphin's confidence rise as they fully committed to tackles and challenges to keep the score at 0-2 at half time.

Un unfathomable decision to replace Gillespie with Spetch up front gained the ultimate reward early on as Spetch found himself free twice in the area. He fluffed the first one on one with the keeper but a couple of minutes later a deft first time touch saw the ball go over the diving keeper into the net for 0-3. Watching the match it was still clear that H&Y could come back and so it proved. As the momentum turned again, with Spetch showing limited mobility up front H&Y moved the ball quickly forward again threatening to overwhelm the Dolphins as they had in the first 15 minutes. This time they were rewarded with 2 well taken goals which Hutch couldn't do anything about. With 20 minutes left the game hung in the balance but with Connell replacing Spetch up front Poole coped with the final pressure really well and in the end saw out the time with few further problems

So, the diffrence here is that Poole beat higher opposition rather than just put up a good show before losing. This should give the players a lot of confidence as they seek to impose themselves on the league.

Wednesday 23 September 2015



Poole Town 0 v Dorchester Town 0

Southern Premier League

23 September 2015


A decent crowd for a Tuesday night saw these local rivals slug out a 0-0 draw on a wet pitch which made the ball zip in some places and hold up in others. Either team could have won in the end and the entertainment value was high. Magpies started very strongly and it looked for a while as though Poole would be steamrollered into submission. During this period it seemed that Tallack was lucky to receive a yellow rather than a red for a flying mistimed tackle.

Although Dorchester had plenty of early shots, Poole held out. Gleeson was replaced by Devlin fairly early on and once the storm had subsided Poole began to impose themselves. Brooks charged down a keeper clearance but couldn’t convert the rebound and towards the end of the half Roberts had a good shot well saved and hit the bar with another. Another Poole attack saw a general melee and the ball saved on the line.

The second half brought a rejuvenated Dorchester and a rather disjointed performance from Poole. Magpies could not force the breakthrough though and there were fewer attempts on goal in the second period. Once Gillespie had gone off there was little threat from Poole up front especially as Burbidge tired as the half wore on. Holmes injected some fresh pace but Dorchester’s defence had the measure of most of Poole’s forward moves. Towards the end though Poole could have nicked it with Davidson added a harder edge to the attack and holes appearing in the Dorchester defence. In the final seconds the Magpies keeper let a high cross slip through his hands on to the bar but the ball was scrambled away from the goal line.

Both defences played well but the overall impression is that the game had been there for the taking with a bit more of a cutting edge from either team. With both teams going all out for the win it was another entertaining game.

Sunday 20 September 2015

Biggleswade Town 0 Poole Town 1

Southern League Premier Division

19 September 2015


With both strikers having a duvet day on the bench it was left to Luke Roberts to plough a lone furrow up front supported ably by Marvin and Luke H. This was a very strong performance by Poole against a Biggleswade side that was the best I've seen. It is a shame that they don't attract more support as the entertainment value is high judging by this performance. Poole showed slick passing and determination and it was only the superhuman efforts of the Waders keeper that kept Poole from scoring early on as both Spetch and Walker had shots saved at point blank range. Walker also hit the bar. At the other end Waders always looked confident and Hutch had to make a sharp save. A suberb through ball from Brooks to Holmes on the edge of the area instigated the breakthrough as Luke H drifted in beating a couple of players before firing past the keeper. There was plenty of action in the rest of half at both ends. The shot count was 9-4 in favour of Poole.

Spetch was withdrawn at half time resulting in a shake up at the back with Lindsay switching to left back and Tallack coming in on the right. Waders exerted heavy pressure from the start and looked likely to score for long periods although Poole looked dangerous on the break. Waders hit the bar when it looked easier to score and it took heroic efforts from Pettifer breaking things up in midfield and the back four to keep them out. As Waders pressed Poole started to find holes in their defence and might have scored more. Burbs started to come into the game more and hit the post towards the end. The game finished with Poole relieved to have taken all three points but fully deserving them and up to 3rd in the league.

This was a great advert for non league football with both teams going for it at full stretch. The metalwork at both ends took a battering. Man of the Match was definately their keeper, not for the first time against us and Waders look set to achieve more than they have recently. As far as the dolphins are concerned all had a great game but I don't like to see Luke R played in the forward position where he puts in a lot of effort but has little influence on the game. He is much better used running at players and coming in late after stronger players have done the donkey work.

A really exciting game in prospect on Tuesday evening as Dorchester visit Tatnam with the rejuvinated community owned Magpies directly behind us in the league table. As a local derby it should of course be played on a bank holiday or Saturday to maximise the crowd. However, life is not perfect.

Saturday 12 September 2015

Poole Town 1 Barnstaple 0

FA Cup 1st Qualifying round

12 September 2015

On a day when Labour left winger Jeremy Corbyn stormed to the Labour leadership it was Poole's left winger Luke Roberts who made the major contribution to winning this cup tie. After a cut and thrust first 20 minutes, Roberts picked the ball up and ran at defenders and was pulled back before being upended for a penalty. Devlin tucked the ball away in the bottom corner for the 'first' goal. Sadly that was pretty much where the entertainment ended in this game and there was to be no deluge of goals against the minnows or unexpected fightback and upset from Barnstaple. Luke Holmes playing fairly centrally was lively and had a good shot over the bar and Luke Burbidge sent in a number of crosses. Alan Connell had a few shots but worryingly still hasn't scored a goal for Poole. First half shot count was 7 to Poole and 3 to Barnstaple although Barnstaple really offered nothing after the goal.

At half time it was deep joy for the holder of green ticket 425. It was nice to see the salmon given a rest.

The second half was fairly terrible in terms of Poole creating or taking chances with substitutes coming and going. Barnstaple did do better but came up with no real threat - their only shot of the second half coming towards the end. The only real moment of note came when Roberts popped up unmarked to see his header cleared off the line by a defender. Barnstaple had a few corners towards the end and the crowd behind the goal made some sport with the keeper goading him to go forward. He made the right choice in not going forward when the last one went in an out of play without troubling any players. The ref put an end to the afternoon's proceedings in the warm sunshine and the players left to a smattering of applause, the crowd appreciating the effort the Barnstaple players had put in.

It is difficult to assess this game because it looked as though the team was in 3rd gear for most of the match. The aim was to progress to the next round without a replay and that job was done without much trouble. 

A couple of things in the programme that can't go without mention: Jamie - a history lesson; Poole has reached the first round of the FA Cup four times, and famously got to the third round in 1926-27. Clive - Poole 7 Barnstaple 2 August 2009 (Austin 3, Dibba, Preston, Smith).


Sunday 6 September 2015

Kings Lynn 3 Poole Town 2 (5 September 2015)


In a town noted for its pirate activity, boarders from Poole were repelled without booty in the first clash between these teams for 44 years. 

This was a really mixed performance from Poole with another nondescript first half show in which they had little zip or pace and failed to take an easy chance after Burbidge found himself one on one with the keeper. Dolphins pushed forward when allowed the ball but too often sat back and let Lynn dominate the play. Inevitably Lynn scored after a good period of possession from a corner which was bundled in at the far post. Kings Lynn dominated Poole physically and it was always going to be difficult to come back when Gillespie was lost to injury in the first half.

Poole are always resilient and did come back as they always do in the second half showing urgency and clever play and at last putting real pressure on the Lynn defence. But, as it looked like Poole would take control, a catastrophic error put Lynn 2 up when Devlin lost the ball on the half way line and Clunan spotted Hutch off his line and fired a swirling ball over his head. These things do happen and it was a really well taken goal but it was very unfortunate timing. 

At 2 down things looked bleak but Connell applied himself well and came close several times. It took a touch of luck to get back into it when Miller glanced in a great OG from Devlin's free kick. As the Poole pressure mounted Roberts popped up after a melee at the right moment inside the area to hit home the equaliser. Although the Poole bench were obviously delighted and the stadium fell silent, Poole failed to get the ball back from the restart and Mulready took the ball on the right wing, cut inside and hit an unstoppable shot past Hutchings. It was a goal worthy of winning any match, and it did.

In the end it was disappointing to go away with nothing but Lynn deserved the victory and if we had got a point there would have been an element of having got away with it. In spite of the defeat it was a good day out in good surroundings with excellent home support.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Poole Town 5 Frome Town 0 (31 August 2015)


Poole imposed their dominance early in this game with Spetch and Roberts going close before Gillespie turned a defender on the edge of the box and shot low into the net. With the score at 1 - 0 the ball was fired into the refreshments kiosk and came down with ketchup on it rather than the proverbial snow. Frome's best effort came shortly afterwards with Hutchins being forced to tip over a fierce shot. After that the dolphin dominance continued with Gillespie pushed over and Devlin netting a well struck penalty and Brooks also scoring. 
A 3 - 0 scoreline and shot count of 8 - 2 in Poole's favour at half time left fans wondering just how many the dolphins would score.

Dickson came on for Roberts at half time and Connell and Davidson were introduced which for a while seemed to disrupt the flow, Dickson being started on the right wing and ending up at right back while Tallack was switched from right to left when Spetch left the field. Frome worked harder in the second half and were able to frustrate the Poole attack for most of the half. However in the last 10 minutes a Frome defender headed into his own goal under pressure from Whisken and Gillespie headed home a good cross from Connell. 

This was a job well done by Poole and they move up to third, two points behind the leaders who are still inexplicably Chippenham. On this showing Frome look fairly certain relegation candidates. Next Saturday's long trip to Kings Lynn looks tougher with both centre backs suspended. Lynn have made a mixed start to the season, beating Cirencester and Cambridge but losing to Bideford. What we can expect is a big crowd.