#Dolphins 2 v 0 #StNeots

I’m starting to become a sort of regular now at the Tatnam and I have now witnessed a ceremony I thought was only folklore

As two fans came in they were welcomed warmly as obvious firm favourites and as they approached the bar door I was advised to “wait for it….” but I had no idea why

As they opened the bar door the bar regulars all joined in with a rousing chorus of “Hi Hooooo”  - that kept me chuckling for the whole game – so nice to see banter amongst friends where no malice was intended and none taken

I also very much enjoyed a phrase I never thought I’d ever hear – “you get into Dylan and I’ll get the flag”.

Alex was Dylan for the day and to see him desperately trying to keep the costume trousers up as he marched across the pitch is another sight that I won’t be able to forget in a long time

The teams lined up and St Neots had clearly got the wrong end of the stick. This was billed as a game of football – not a basketball/rugby cross.

Their numbers 4 and 6, the two centre backs, were absolutely enormous and built like brick out-houses – I hoped that we’d taken note of this and had plans to keep the ball on the deck

Poole were the brighter starters and with Preston on the left and Brooks on the right the Saint’s full backs were all over the place and crosses rained in from both left and right

Trouble was, they were all up in the air and let’s face it, there was only ever going to be one team winning those battles

On 9 minutes the penny had clearly dropped for Preston as he beat his man easily again and crossed the ball back low for Charles.

Charles hesitated though when a first time shot was called for and although the ball ran to Preston, all the off balance winger was able to do was weakly shoot at the keeper

Just 4 minutes later though, Poole put this right

Preston again cutting in between 2 defenders, proving that both big men have the turning circle of an oil tanker, ran to the by line and as the ball came back to Cann, at the second attempt he smashed the ball past the keeper from close range 1-0

Despite excellent possession and play from Poole, not enough balls were played over the St Neots mountainous defence to turn them which meant that they were able to keep Poole at arms’ length, allowing Poole only long range opportunities which rarely troubled the keeper.

With 2 minutes to go the St Neots number 10 became the crowd favourite as he took a spectacular tumble in the box and got exactly what he deserved – a yellow card

I’m sure he took heed of the gentle “encouragement” he received to get up and continue playing

Half Time 1-0

The second half started very much as the first had ended with Poole being on the front foot and it didn’t take long for the home side to double the lead.

A left cross, low into the box (Poole were learning) had Brooks and the keeper running at the ball and with an ear-shattering crash of broken glass, the keeper’s bottle broke and Brooks got there first.

His instinctive stab hit the keeper, bounced back at Brooks and as the ball ricocheted left Brooks was first there to knock  the ball into the empty net

This strike seemed to wake the visitors up and with the Icelandic looking number 7 pulling the strings in the middle, they suddenly became a threat

Just 4 minutes later Poole were glad that the whistle happy ref didn’t play any advantage as a cross from the right was put in, only to be called back for a free kick just outside the box

From that free kick, a curling shot from their number 11 bounced off the top of the bar with the keeper nowhere near it  - 2 let-offs for the price of 1

This heralded the best 20 minutes for St Neots with Poole mostly hitting on the break.

A Spetch headed goal was ruled out with 15 minutes to go as a foul on the keeper was given, much to the bafflement of players and crowd alike and from then on the visitor’s threat was over.

Somehow, even though it was a clear reprieve, it knocked the wind out of them

Cann had the last 2 chances of the game, both put on a plate by the marauding Preston but both times fierce shots were equalled by the quick reactions of the keeper.

Final score 2-0

Summary – A deserved victory but for me it was a bit disappointing how many high balls were put in against the Peter Crouch tribute back 4 – a total contrast to Tuesday when the ball didn’t get above grass level

When the ball WAS at feet, the play was a joy to watch with excellent passing and movement with all looking comfortable on the ball

Star Man – Preston – Absolutely unstoppable on the wing and was the start of everything good

#Dolphins 3 v 0 #Holt

So here we were again, another cup match – what a surprise. A pre-match Killick interview had more than hinted that the team would be “rotated” but I was pleased to see that a good proportion were still first team players

I was even more pleased that Dibba was playing and that he was captain, although I do suspect that was just so that we could all hear the tannoy announcer saying “skipper Dibba” – I did hope that we’d have a Cat in the Hat match but unfortunately that was where the rhyming ended

As the team lined up with Taff and Lowes  in the middle of the park it did rather look like it was “take your son to work” day but as the old adage goes it’s best to have a blend of youth and experience – although never have the boundaries been pushed so far……..

The game started with Poole very much on the front foot. As early as the 2^nd minute a lovely flighted ball from Taff sent Charles through but he was just beaten to the ball by the keeper

Preston and Elliott were having a lot of success down the wings but it was down the middle that the break through happened

On 14 minutes Taff picked up the ball half way into the Holt half and ran at the defence. As defenders came towards him he rolled back the years and he jinked, bobbled and juggled the ball past them all and passed the ball into the bottom left corner as the keeper ran out : 1-0

The crowd even believed that he’d fully embraced modern culture as they marvelled at his robot celebration – although in truth it was just him getting up from the floor as smoothly as he could…

Five minutes later Poole had their first scare as a long Holt ball was inexplicably punched out, at waist height, by Thomas in goal which caused some confusion before Dibba cleared away

It was, though,  just a temporary jitter as Elliott’s low cross 2 minutes later from the right found Charles in the middle who easily turned his defender and drilled the ball into the bottom right corner : 2-0

On 36 minutes Elliott almost added a third as he cut inside from the right and unleashed a ferocious  shot that was destined for the top left until the keeper, at full stretch, tipped the ball onto the bar

The last moment of note came just before the whistle as a misplaced ball from Taff had him shouting “come on that was a good ball” – at least that’s what I thought he said as his voice rose to such an alarming octave throughout the sentence I wasn’t surprised to see the ground surrounded by stray dogs at full time….

Preston and Clarke came off at half time for Davidson and Swindlehurst and rather than slowing the game up, Poole pressed forward even more.

Wave upon wave of Poole attacks crashed against the Holt defence but stubborn defending kept  Poole at bay

For me, the difference between this game and previous games I’d witnessed was the passing – all along the deck and always going through the midfield

For that play to work, you need a midfielder that can run, tackle and pass and in Lowes I believe Poole have found that player in Lowes. On top of these attributes his balance on the ball was superb which made it all but impossible to knock him off the ball.

He was involved in everything good going forward, from forcing the keeper into a fine low save to his left after riding several tackles on 65 minutes, to threading a ball through to Charles on 70 minutes for the keeper to make yet another fine save (surely Holt’s MOM)

With just 5 minutes to play in an unbelievably scoreless second half, Swindlehurst burst through on the left and used the runners in the middle as dummies before shooting hard at the near post, only for their substitute keeper to make a fine save.

From the corner, who was there, rising like a spawning salmon at the far post but Taff, who headed the ball in from close range

Leg speed is great, but sometimes it’s the speed between your ears that counts and being at the right place at the right time paid dividends – giving Poole a deserved 3-0 win

Summary – That was the best I’ve seen Poole play for a long time. Passing, movement and enthusiasm . I hope that some of the regulars rested for today were taking note as there were players out there really staking their claim.

Lowes is a Devlin mini-me, the Byerley/Charles combination worked well  and with Spetch being trialled at Pompey it was important that the back 4 gelled – which they did very impressively

Star Man – Young Taff – scoring 2 and excellent display of tackling and passing,  showing that his hunger for the game hasn’t diminished one bit