#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