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.