A mouth watering FA Cup match awaited the Poole Town faithful as they travelled to Bath to see two sides with two wins behind them go head to head for a place in the Preliminary round of the FA Cup.

The only starting change for Poole came with Stuart Brown replacing Leigh Phillips up front - Phillips reverting to the substitutes bench. Also back on the bench after returning from injury were Aaron Skelton and Kevin Gill.

Having fallen at the first hurdle in the FA Cup in the preceding two seasons it was vital that Poole were on their game right from the start. The opening 15 minutes was a very tight affair with little in the way of quality football and both sides just testing each other out. Welton then enjoyed a period of about 10 minutes where they had the majority of possession and really started to press into the Poole half. As has been evident thus far this season the Poole defence is incredibly strong and Welton failed to achieve anything bar a couple of long range shots straight at Jason Harvell.

This was as good as it got for Welton as Poole gradually took control of the game from midway through the first half. Hubbard and Taffy Richardson started picking up more of the ball in midfield and both Austin and Stuart Brown worked hard to chase everything down in their areas.

On 25 minutes it looked as though Poole would take the lead. A defensive error allowed Poole the ball and when it reached Trefor Smith on the right he hit a first time cross which Austin met with a strong header but the ball thumped off the crossbar with the keeper beaten. Three minutes later Bailey-Pearce hit a sweet ball diagonally from left to right, Taffy Richardson nodded the ball down into the path of Stuart Brown who controlled the ball and then hit a fierce shot which was pushed away by the keeper for a corner. Poole continued to look the better side up to half time without managing to take the lead.

Half time: 0-0.

The second half saw Poole in control for long periods and a goal always looked like being a matter of time before arriving. On 48 minutes Stuart Brown tackled back superbly to rob the ball. He raced down the right and delivered a great cross to Austin but his shot was saved well by the knees of the home keeper. Seven minutes later however and it was the same combination which brought the winning goal. Brown again wide down the right produced another terrific cross and this time Austin arrived perfectly to head home from close range.

The goalscorer, still seemingly struggling with the knock he picked up against Brockenhurst midweek was replaced by Steve Smith on 62 minutes,

On 71 minutes good work from both Trefor Smith and Lamin Dibba saw Dibba fire a left foot shot just wide of the right hand post. At this stage of the game Poole looked pretty comfortable and if anything they were the only team likely to add to the scoresheet.

Leigh Phillips replaced Stuart Brown in the last ten minutes and Kevin Gill made a welcome return a few minutes later when he replaced Trefor Smith.

Poole thoroughly deserved the win against their Western Premier league opposition and now take on Willand Rovers in the Preliminary Round after they demolished Wadebridge Town 6-0. The tie will take place on Saturday August 30th at Tatnam.