#dolphins 2 v 2 #terras

A hot Bank Holiday Monday – what could better than El Jurassico – Poole against Weymouth. With Walker and Burbidge having moved from Poole to Weymouth in the close season there was a little extra spice, with some light hearted booing coming from the home fans

Tuna fishing has got a bad reputation recently as Dolphins are often caught up in the nets – today the fishermen of Poole must have been confused as either a tuna fish or the smallest porpoise known to man led the teams out (sorry Alex)

The game kicked off with Weymouth showing a move straight from the training ground – one pass to another then a hoof for a goal kick – class

The Weymouth fans took up the bus shelter behind the goal and were in fine voice, even with a drum. The red and white army were strangely subdued despite Poole’s brighter start

On 7 minutes Poole actually had the ball in the net as Devlin went up with the keeper and the shot-stopper inexplicably threw the ball into his own net, only for a free kick to be given against Devlin – the first weird decision of the day but definitely not the last

Weymouth then came much more into the game and were having a lot of success down the right wing. Poole were left with half chances on the break with Preston being the leading light – if only the strikers gambled more to get into the box surely his work would have been rewarded.

On 30 minutes Yelton was presented with Weymouth’s best chance but he air shot his right foot volley from 6 yards – no doubt blinded by Hutchings’ garish kit – a kit so bright not even the Millwall kit man could miss it…

The ball spent so much time at the other end of the pitch in the Poole area I started looking for looky likeys in the crowd – I spotted Rod Stewart but I was advised not to publish the picture….

On 40 minutes a Poole free kick from the left was tucked in by Spetch on the far post – another curious decision ensued because it didn’t look like it had been flicked on at any point so offside seemed almost an impossibility

With just seconds to go in the first half, far too much time was given to Weymouth on the right (again) and the resultant cross went in (somehow) off Yelton (or is it Yetton, according to sky) to put the Terras deservedly in the lead

Half Time 0-1

In my haste to get to my now best friend (Flakey), who had got the beers in, I almost missed Brett Pitman, Jason Pearce and Warren Cummings in the crowd but later I saw Brett display a hitherto unseen turn of speed – what a pity it was to get to the ice-cream van rather than bearing down on a Championship goal

The second half started and within 4 minutes the game seemed over. The ball bounced high and Devlin jumped at the ball against his opponent and the Weymouth midfielder went down as if shot by a sniper

It must be bad, we all thought, he’s not moved a muscle. The presentation of the straight red card, however, seemed as magical as the old school cold, wet sponge because as soon as it was brandished, the guy jumped up like he’d been given an electric shock and took up his position

“It’s a miracle” we all thought, even if It did come out “referee you’ve been conned you *&^%$”

Oh well – damage limitation time

No – Not on Tom Killick’s 500^th game. Instead he took off Oliver and Elliott and brought on Brooks and Gillespie – surely the most attacking changes he could have made

On 56 minutes Preston fired over the bar and 3 minutes later, the unbelievable happened. A low cross was fired in from the right and Gillespie, like any true goal poacher, ran through the 6 yard box and met the ball with a cheeky back-heel that wrong footed the keeper and spun the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal

Poole had equalised – with 10 men!!!

Three minutes later a Weymouth cross from the right was turned in at the far post but the Weymouth cheers were cut short by the linesman’s offside flag.

The Red and White Army were still mocking the Weymouth fans by “pretending” they had scored, when Poole did it for real!!!

This time it was Cann that split the defence with an inch perfect pass to Gillespie, who controlled the ball and slotted it past the on-rushing keeper to make the game 2-1

I’ve said it once but it’s worth reiterating – this is with 10 MEN !!

I thought that important to mention as it wasn’t 10 for long. The referee seemed to book Hutchings for time wasting and then, from where I stood, Hutchings seemed to tap the ref on the head sarcastically.

Now, I was a long way away, so maybe this wasn’t how it happened – to be fair, as I write this it seems so ridiculously stupid that it couldn’t have happened, could it? Either way, the yellow turned red and off he trot (well, walked)

Thomas took his place which meant that Davies was sacrificed which was a real shame for him as he was having a blinder.

10 men on a hot day is hard, 9 men is nigh on impossible. Luckily for Poole the ref decided that they’d been penalised enough so that even had they’d set about Weymouth with a baseball bat, no decisions would go against them

Even with the referee back on side – it was never going to be enough and it was the former Poole Winger Burbidge that made the extra man count. Cutting in from the right he smashed his shot into the top left corner. With 10 men outfield maybe he could have been closed down – with 8 there was no chance – in fairness it was a very good goal

It was backs against the wall for the last 12 minutes and the whistle came to Poole’s relief

Summary – A poor start and some indifferent refereeing decisions went against Poole but the spirit they showed when down to 10 men should bear them in good stead for the games to come

Star Man – An easy choice would be Gillespie for the 2 goals but for me the player that made things happen and was the difference on the day was Preston – a real threat all day

 

Poole unveil new terracing