Poole Town 2 Redditch Utd 1

Southern Premier League

3 October 2015

Like a few times this season the opposition came out of the blocks quicker and Redditch could easily have been a couple of goals up in the first 10 minutes. As shots rained in defensive cover was sparse and Hutchins kept Poole in the game with some smart work. Against the run of play (which is sounding like a familiar story) Brooks broke into the area on the right but hesitated giving the keeper the opportunity to bring him down. A penalty without a card to the keeper feels right since there were at least 2 other Redditch players around the ball and the keeper was diving for the ball. Devlin's weak penalty was parried on to the post by the keeper but the ball fell kindly back to him and he made no mistake from the rebound. Poole's forward play seemed slow and deliberate for most of the match but a genuinely good move brought the second goal as Burbidge crossed and Roberts flicked the ball across the goal for on loan Corby Moore running into the box to score his first for the club.

In the second half you thought that Poole had to change the game a bit to get on the ball more and control things rather than letting the opposition have it but Redditch had other ideas. A free kick led to probably the worst goal that Poole have conceded this season which was Walkeresque in its execution as Carline found himself unmarked between defenders to head home. There were moments when Redditch threatened to score and the passage of play for the next 20 minutes was nervy but Poole's defence played well after the aberration. As Redditch pressed Poole took advantage of the space to come forward. Man of the match Burbidge was back to his best tormenting the left back numerous times but was unable to find anyone to finish off his moves.

So it continues to be a strange season with resilience at an all time high but quality lacking from the heights of last season so far except in patches. Rock bottom Paulton visit on Tuesday so will Poole fill their boots or will they contrive to make it difficult?