Poole Town 1 Stratford Town 2

Southern Premier League

26 March 2016

Stratford arrived at Poole with the worst form record in the league having lost 4 and drawn 2 of their last 6 games so Poole were odds on for 3 points, but in a truly nightmarish first half performance they failed to muster a single shot. Looking slow and devoid of ideas Poole played with the ball ponderously on the edge of Stratford's area until they lost it and had no presence in attack with Roberts again miscast in the centre forward position. Worse was to follow with Hutchings rooted to the spot and unable to save a centrally placed shot from distance. Stratford had four shots in the first half, Poole none.

In the second half Poole pressed forward and kept possession better but didn't create a clear chance until Burbidge surged into the box and was brought down. The Stratford keeper got a hand to Devlin's penalty but failed to keep it out. Three minutes later Stratford had their only attack of the second half and scored when Fagan beat Hutchings to a routine cross. After that Stratford pretty much dealt with the corners and long balls and Poole sink to 12th in the form table with Redditch rising to 4th. For the first time this season Poole are relying on others to drop points and a win at Weymouth looks essential.

Verdict 
The conditions were tricky but there was no excuse for this kind of performance. The better team won.

Star Player
No-one's performance would have rated more than 5/10 today but Jack Dickson at least made some enterprising runs and chased back.