Leamington F.C. 1 Poole Town 0

Southern Premier League

12 March 2016

Poole lost this match by a deflected goal but Leamington  played well, particularly in the second half, outshooting Poole by a wide margin over the course of the match. A largish partisan crowd found their voice in the second half and lifted their team adding to the pressure on the Poole goal. Leamington's left winger was particularly effective and Tallack had to work hard to keep him in check. In spite of their dominance of possession brakes shots were either wide, high or saved and Poole had a few moments at the other end in the first half, notably Spetch's hard shot which the keeper clung on to.

In the second half just as it looked that Poole were ready to step up and go for the win with Holgate and Roberts coming on, Leamington scored after a period of pressure on the Poole goal. That changed the game and any ideas that Poole had of playing football went out of the window as for 30 minutes they desperately tried to put pressure on the Leamington goal. Brakes should have scored again but missed an open goal with Poole defenders committed to attack. There was also a huge amount of timewasting with the referee seemingly indifferent to that. Poole had a glorious chance to equalise just before the end but Brooks at full stretch from a right wing cross put the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy. The Leamington keeper made a superb save from Devlin's deflected shot which could have rescued a point but in reality the points went to the better team on the day.

Star Player: Lewis Tallack
Always in the game and given a torrid time by the winger, he had to work incredibly hard throughout. Stuck to his task and was occasionally the last line of defence when defenders were pushed forward.

Verdict:
It was clear from the start that the points were more important than the performance for Poole and consequently they failed to play well. Leamington's target was a win and they pressed forward continuously showing they are one of the better teams in the league. Poole ceded control the game and the possession stats must have been strongly in favour of the home team. The goal was lucky in the end but came after a period of head tennis on the edge of the area where Poole should have got the ball away. This performance was nervy from Poole with players preferring to pump the ball forward rather than pass the opposition out of the game, but whatever demons exist in their heads they have to get them out and start playing the way they can. Burbidge was anonymous today, and when that happens Poole usually fail to prosper. New boy Baggie looked like a superb addition to the team in the small cameo he played.