The night started badly. I got to the carpark and it was all different - I fear change
Instead of stumbling across a bumpy, unlit, muddy field I was forced to walk along a well lit, tarmac path. Bloody outrageous!! I knew bringing that Mitchell into the fold would be the ruin of the club.....
I then ran into a very friendly steward who told me I'd missed the turning for the turnstile
But that couldn't have been true - I looked down that murky, black-hole-of-Calcutta alley and surely that couldn't be the welcoming way in??
I cautiously walked in, ready to be knifed at any point, turned round the corner and it was .....Pippa in the turnstile, turned round the wrong way
Another change - note to self - bring a torch and a big stick next time :-)
By the time I'd seen the bar moved too I did need a drink but don't worry, I'm over it now.....
Totton started the brighter but it was Poole that took the lead after just 4 minutes in unlikely circumstances
Bennett chased a slightly over-hit ball pumped over their defence and the keeper was able to get there first. With the whole world to aim for, the keeper smashed it at Bennett and the ball ricocheted towards the goal.
Bennett had the momentum and so got there first, knocking it in from 2 yards
Poole Town 1 v 0 Totton
A collective sigh went round the ground - this is what the faithful had been waiting for - a nice early goal and a hopefully convincing performance
Well, one out of two isn't that bad, is it?
On 13 minutes their number 8, a constant speedster threat, thumped the ball from distance and Whisken, mistaking the football for a basketball presumably, slapped the ball down and cleared it
The Totton crowd went berserk as no penalty was given. I (and my friends) winced and chose not to look their way - for me the distance between players was too great to say it was ball to hand, so discretion on our part was the only way forward
Devlin almost rubbed salt into the wounds just 4 minutes later as his mazy run took him past all and sundry and as he was shown onto his right foot, he curled a delicious shot just past the left post
This though, was very much against the run of play as Totton were first to every ball and but for a fantastic last ditch tackle from Whisken their 8 was through on goal straight from the goal kick
That was a theme of the evening - the long ball to a pacey attacker caused problems - really weird considering how dominant the CB's are in the air
Despite having to live on scraps and soaking up a lot of pressure, it was Poole who created the next chance on 28 minutes and Preston ran down the left and fired in a low cross right across the goal
Bennett was charging in but just couldn't reach the ball and it flew to safety
Their 8 was then put through on 30 minutes and but for a heavy, heavy touch would have been through on goal but Thomas was there to clear up his mistake
Just 4 minutes later, though, 8 was charging at goal again and his shot was deflected over the bar
From the corner, the ball was half cleared but was rifled back at goal and if it wasn't for the fact their 7 was so slow to move it actually hit him on the line, surely that would have been the equaliser
Inexplicably the ref gave a corner, and from that the ball was headed at goal and looped over Thomas, only for Martin to spectacularly hook it off the line with a Pele like scissor-kick
How were we still in the lead?
Devlin had had enough of not getting the ball by this point and went on a 1 man crusade knocking players over to get the ball back and was penalised time and again
I've compared him to Archie Gemmill before, maybe Paul Scholes was more apt at this moment
Still Thomas stood resolute though and Poole saw the half off still leading 1-0
I'd hoped for a Killick hair dryer improvement in the second half but it took only 3 minutes for Thomas to have to use up yet another top drawer save, diving to his left from a long range shot
Nothing seemed to gel for Poole and on 58 minutes Devlin was substituted for Charles. He didn't look happy as he took his shirt off as he left the pitch- starved of the ball all night we could all feel his frustration
I hope Mrs D hid the dog before he got home....
We were hoping for inspiration and just 4 minutes after the substitution it came in the form of a marauding Prezzo
As he tore through the defence their 6 fell to the ground like he'd been harpooned - get up you girl - the ref wasn't impressed either
This gave Preston the time to pick out Bennett in the middle with a low cross and after a defence bamboozling turn, sent the keeper the wrong way, tucking it into to left of the goal
Well thank God for that 2-0 - although as I sit here now completely sober I still don't know how
No, that's not true - it was due to having a keeper in excellent form, and a striker more clinical than the opposition - simple
On 73 minutes Bennett was passed through on goal to complete his hat-trick but as the ball was rebounding off the post we all noticed that the ref was booking Charles - no idea why but it wouldn't have counted anyway
There was still time for "superman" Thomas to pull off 2 more fine saves before Bennett chested the ball down to Charles in the box on 82 minutes and he swiveled and crashed it against the post
The result was already flattering enough - that would have been just taking the p*ss
Final Score 2-0
Star Man : Thomas - a wonderful 90 minute long performance. He dominated the box and made enough saves today to win 4 matches
Summary : Poole win 2-0 and the star man was the keeper - I think that says it all. With fixtures relentlessly coming thick and fast and each player also having to do a "proper" job - tiredness may well derail the Dolphin juggernaut
Totton were a much better side than the league table suggests and will surprise many teams before the end of the season but still Poole had enough to get the job done
Good teams have to do this - win ugly - and this was as ugly as a robber's dog
No comments:
Post a Comment