#dolphins 1 v 0 #hitchin

The call had gone out

Like a horn blast across Dorset, the signal was there for all beer drinkers to hear, the Poole Town bar was finally open

Create a bar, and they will come - and they did in their numbers

Beers on tap, beers in the can, INSIDE WORKING toilets and oh yes, did I mention they had beer?

Wee Simmo was the only one disappointed pre match as Phil, whose round it was, was pulled behind the bar to help out which he manfully did, without actually telling him

Once the penny dropped and he got his own in, he only had 5 minutes to sink a pint of reasonably priced San Miguel but of course, that was at least 3 minutes longer than he needed...

On the way down Steve and I discussed our girly dilemma of what to wear for the evening and we both got it wrong

My boob tube and his off the shoulder number in no way kept out the cold and we wished we hadn't been fooled by such a fine sunny day

Poole started the brighter and it was good to see Burbidge pushed forward for a change and it was his shot in the first minute that showed the home team's intent but he dragged the ball just wide

Poole were sharper all over the pitch and even Elliott who I'd previously criticised as having the gentle first touch of a sledgehammer was doing well linking up with the midfield

Corners were also causing the Hitchin defence all sorts of problems despite their height advantage, mostly because of Brooks' zebedee like leaps but it was Wannell that went closest after 8 minutes, putting his header wide

Not normally worth a mention except the header did manage to smash a sickly sweet smelling energy drink out of the guy's hand next to me causing a very pleasing fountain effect

Not quite as pleasing, though, as when Wee Simmo forgot that he was stood in a roofed area 2 minutes later and attempted to kick the ball in the air with the ball's ricochet taking out half of the RWA

Talking of which it was an evening where the RWA regained their voice and passion for the game and that was so good to hear

Although very much on top, Poole struggled to get anything on target although I bet on 20 minutes their number 2 wished Dev's pile driver HAD tested the keeper, rather than catching him in the "gentleman's area"

Quite frankly I'd have wanted to be stretchered off so the fact he was back on his feet just a few eye watering minutes later was testament to his determination

Besides, the local choirs are always after someone who can hit that top C so every cloud and all that ....

Preston had the next Poole chance but his shot was brilliantly blocked by the tracking defender and on 37 minutes it was again time for the impressive Burbidge to shine

Cutting in from the right, having played a smart 1-2 he belted the ball towards goal and the keeper made an excellent low save, clinging on to the ball as poacher Brooks sniffed for a spillage

A minute later it was he that turned provider by crossing the ball in low from the right and you'll not see a more relieved man than their number 5 as his sliced clearance looped up, bounced on the bar and into the crowd

The RWA pounced in the ball before Alex had the chance to do it all again....

Just before the half time whistle Burbidge crowned a first class first half display by appearing this time on the left, cutting inside and unleashing a ferocious shot to the far corner which the keeper was at full stretch to tip round the post

Half Time 0-0

We were all disappointed that, as the second half started, we saw Chiedozie on the pitch instead of Burbidge 

Not just because Burbidge had been the stand out player of the first half, but because Chiedozie had looked a little tired (lazy) in previous games and this was no time to take your foot off the pedal

My mate Steve is the next person to trouble my note taking as he cheered wildly at what he saw as a Hitchin shot that went horribly wrong - If only he'd seen their player on the left who collected the ball BEFORE the whooping started

Luckily we had a crowd commentator next to us for the second half so we were left in no doubt as to how the rest of the game was going....

On 51 minutes a slick through ball had Chiedozie running through with a great chance until an awful first touch sent him so wide that when the shot came in, the angle was so tight the keeper blocked his options and the ball went for a corner

I was just commenting that it must be time someone else learned to take a corner as Devlin must run miles every game to take them all when in the ball came

After a blocked shot and a half clearance the ball fell to Elliott who thumped the ball through a crowd of players to put the home side 1 up

Thank goodness for that!!

Five minutes later a Hitchin fan walked past and shouted at their number 3 "go on Gazza - skin him"

I looked at their 3 - worst Gazza impersonator ever - no fake boobs, fishing rod OR packet of sandwiches

The remainder of the game had Poole in charge but really lacking that cutting edge

Davies came on for Devlin and Gillespie came on for Elliott but neither made a real impact on the game

The Hitchin fans got more and more frustrated at their perceived bias of the ref towards Poole so it did make me smile as they cheered like madmen as they were awarded a throw in - class

The last moment of note was for their striker

Luckily for him I couldn't see what number he was to fully name and shame but as my mate said - he produced a move that was a "mixed bag" towards the end

Firstly, he brilliantly controlled a long ball that looped over his head with his left foot, then he shinned it to the touch line

Showing a surprising turn of pace he got to the ball and went past the defender, only to trip over his own feet and fall over as he went, unchallenged, to cross the ball

You just can't teach that

Final Score 1-0

Summary - A far better performance than I have seen recently and it was bizarre that the goal came in the second half when Poole were far more dominant in the first half

It seemed a much more balanced side with more players playing their preferred positions which made everyone look just more comfortable

Fatigue is still the key for this season and it worries me that the second half was less dynamic than the first, especially as Poole have such a difficult game on Thursday

Maybe they were just saving their energy, maybe......

Star Man - Had he stayed on the pitch it would probably have gone to Burbidge but instead I'm awarding it to Brooks for marshalling the front line so well and making such good runs and creating space for the team to run into

Only a goal was missing from a quality performance

#dolphins 1 v 2 #stourbridge

So here I was, my second game in a week but as there was a 'fiver-ness' about it how could I not make the last minute decision to attend?

The mood in the bar was much buoyed after Tuesday's heroics although when we looked at the team sheet and saw that Gillespie wasn't even in the squad we all feared that perhaps his precautionary substitution was maybe a little more serious than that

Right from the first whistle you could see that Stourbridge were going to be a very different prospect to Banbury as they had pace all over the pitch and gave Poole absolutely no time on the ball

In fact had they brought their shooting boots they could have been 2 up in the first 10 minutes as first their 6 fired just over and then their 7 forced a great fingertip save from Thomas

Gulp

Charles had Poole's first chance on 10 minutes as a cross from the right hung invitingly for him but unfortunately he mistimed his header horribly and completely missed the ball - what I'd give to have Gillespie attacking that kind of chance

After Stourbridge's strong start Poole started to come much more into it but unfortunately the chances kept falling to the wrong player, Dibba, who was unable to convert

The first was from a Devlin outside of the boot inswinging cross that he just couldn't get to and the next was after he reacted quickest to the errant overhead kick from Charles but again he just couldn't quite reach

On 39 minutes Stourbridge showed what they were all about producing a passage of play reminiscent of  Leeds in the 70's as they smoothly passed the ball from one end to the other through a dozen or so passes and if the final ball wasn't just too high for their number 2 striker then surely that would have been the goal of the season

Bearing in mind the pitch was so bumpy it often made the ball look like a Mexican jumping bean it was a truly impressive display

Half Time 0-0

The opening 15 minutes of the second half were largely even although Poole were very lucky to have the ref stop play for the injured Dibba just as Stourbridge had broken through and looked destined to open their account

The very vocal travelling supporters were NOT happy and quite frankly I didn't blame them

On the hour mark though their frustration turned to delight as a flick on was pounced upon by their impressive number 2 and he beat Thomas to the ball and skilfully chipped it past him before beating the world record knee skid to celebrate their deserved lead 0-1

That, however, appeared to wake Poole up from their slumber and 2 minutes later Charles was bearing down on goal.

His shot was initially blocked then his second brilliantly saved by the keeper but the ball ricocheted to the edge of the box where super-Dev took aim and smashed the ball into the top left corner

A fantastic finish and to rub salt into the would he even took the knee slide record from their 2 as he aped the celebration towards the delirious RWA 1-1

We all assumed then that this would be the stepping stone to an impressive comeback but in fact the opposite happened

It almost appeared that the team had this one last herculean effort left in them to get the game back to parity but by doing that they just had nothing left to give

Passes became wayward, running stopped and challenges, whilst not dangerous, started to come under the category of "I got there as soon as I could"

It was one such "tired" challenge which resulted in Stourbridge being awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute and it was coolly slotted away to make it 1-2

Sure, Charles did have a glancing header just go wide and a Davies' shot did sting the keeper's fingers but in my opinion we could have played all night and wouldn't have scored

In fact, the longer the game went on the more likely the goal difference was going to take a beating so when the final whistle went , there was almost an air of relief, like when you see a boxing match where one boxer is clearly out on his feet but is determined to get through to the end

Final Score 1-2

Summary : For the first time this season I have some doubts about Poole's chances of reaching the play-offs

Part time builders, plasterer's etc just can't be expected to play 3 games a week on a relentless treadmill of games and be able to keep winning

The weather could be the factor that finally breaks Poole and so something has to be done to protect the players

In my opinion some games are going to have to be sacrificed by playing a weaker side else EVERY game we will be putting out a weak side as each and every one of them are completely shattered

Also, we can't keep relying on Devlin to burst the back of the net to rescue the side and so the season may well depend on how quickly Gillespie can be brought back into the starting line up

Star Man : Burbidge - playing out of position he looked composed at the back and offered real threat when going on his cavalier runs in attack

#dolphins 4 v 1 #banbury

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