It had been a week or so since I'd seen Poole play and in Poole's life, that meant I'd missed a LOT of games
That included the Bedford game but from what I'd heard my trip to Birmingham to see AFCB triumph was by far the better choice
It was after that humbling defeat that we all stood under the new stand more than a little apprehensive about what we were about to see
The backlog of games had cruelly caught up with Poole and we all hoped that this extra day's break would be enough to rest our weary players
It looked like Banbury even had magic on their side as their coach looked like the bus driver from Harry Potter fame and we all feared the possible "bumpy riiiiide"
Looking at the Banbury line up the 2 CBs and the keeper had clearly been eating their weetabix as they stood about 9 feet tall - I just hoped that Killick had given the "keep the ball on the deck" command
Within 4 minutes it was clear that the team were on message as smart interplay in the middle resulted in Gillespie running through on goal but the keeper just stretched out his giant telescopic arms in true Inspector Gadget style and beat him to the ball
Six minutes later and this time it was Chiedozie in a foot race with the keeper and this time the attacker won but his only option was to lob the keeper and had to hit it so high it came down with snow on it, landed on the new stand and shattered into a million shards of ice
On 11 minutes Poole made all this good pressure pay
It was Gillespie that again ran through and deciding wisely against the aerial route he thumped the ball low and Bambi on ice was unable to adjust his feet quick enough to prevent being nutmegged from the edge of the box 1-0
The poor lad looked shell shocked but that was only the start of his woes as the RWA seized upon this weakness to give him a torrid time for the rest of the game.......
The Poole pressure now was relentless as the Banbury defence threw their bodies at everything and everyone to prevent Brooks, Elliott and then Gillespie from doubling the host's lead as chance after chance was created by keeping the pace of the game high and the crosses low
It took until 35 minutes for the second goal to come and it came from the left by way of a chest high cross and Gillespie was quickest to react with a stooping header guided inside the near post
Excellent giant avoidance there and no more than Poole deserved 2-0 and apart from one Banbury striker auditioning for a slot on Splash that was the final point of note in the first half
The Banbury manager had clearly administered a well deserved rocket as they came out with some fire in their bellies and in the first minute forced Thomas into a smart save diving to his left
That fight back was short lived though as on 49 minutes it was game over
Gillespie again ran through and this time he was unceremoniously dealt with and was sent flying for the most obvious of penalties
Devlin then showed a touch of class by stepping down and allowing Gillespie to take it and complete his hat-trick by banging the ball down the middle 3-0
Devlin and Brooks were then subbed to preserve them for future games and again Devlin showed how much he'd grown since the last time I saw him by shaking everyone's hand in the dug out and then more hand shaking with the crowd as he walked off to a deserved early rest
He'd just disappeared round the corner as his replacement, Davis, tore down the left and fired a low cross in and this was met by , who else, Gillespie and he rifled the ball home to make it 4-0
The game was so over now that Poole well and truly took their foot off the gas
I did enjoy a Davies long free kick which raced along the ground and as the keeper stooped to pick it up it bobbled and caught him square in the face - haven't laughed so much in ages :-)
Gillespie was then taken off as a precaution which meant that Poole were down to 10 as all substitutes were used which meant that Banbury came much more into the game and although they didn't look particularly threatening, they did manage a consolation goal with 5 minutes to go
Their 12 went on a mazy run down the left and suddenly cut in and fired into the bottom far corner giving Thomas no chance
The clean sheet was gone which was a shame but it was much too little way too late and the game petered out to finish 4-1
Summary : Best performance I'd seen from Poole for weeks. The day's extra rest clearly helped and I wonder if that should give Tom something to think about
By my reckoning 2 wins a week for the rest of the season would take Poole safely into the play-offs so would it be better to just play a second 11 on Thursdays to give the key players time to recover - only time will tell I guess
Star Man : Gillespie - fantastic attacking display and single handedly dismantled this giant Banbury team
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