After the disappointment of Saturday's FA Vase exit it was back to critical league action for the Dolphins as they travelled to deepest Hampshire to take on old rivals Alton Town.
With a chance of crossing off one of their games in hand on VT it was vital that Poole picked up maximum points to reduce the gap to two.

Major changes to the side were made by Killick as Simon Browne returned to the left side of defence with Mike Walker moving to center alongside Lamin Dibba and no Michael White in the side. Bailey-Pearce returned on the left of midfield and Dave Sturgess and Aaron Skelton both started with Taffy Richardson and Mickey Hubbard on the bench. Up front Stu Brown was unavailable and so Steve Smith started alongside Charlie Austin.

On a bumpy pitch the first half seemed like a continuation of the Vase game at Bitton. Poole enjoyed the majority of possession and created a host of chances but the killer finish was just lacking on every occasion. Then the home side managed to score from the only chance they created in the first half! On 23 minutes a good Poole move saw Dave Sturgess in space in the Alton box but his right foot shot went wide of the left hand post. Six minutes later and a Skelton corner was headed wide by Dibba and five minutes after that Poole put together a great move. Simon Browne played the ball nicely down the left and Steve Smith twisted and turned superbly to create room for his cross. The ball found Austin charging in but his volley went wide. At this stage Poole could have been three or four up and supporters were left to wonder if the missed chances would prove costly once again.

Fears were confirmed on 40 minutes when a poor Dibba clearance found an Alton striker and his speculative shot from 25 yards rolled tamely along the ground and unfortunately straight through the hands of Grant Porter in goal. It was obviously a soft goal and the ground was met with silence from both sides as the ball barely crept over the line. In an effort to go in level Poole mustered one final attack of the half when Gill did well, cut in from the left and produced a fine ball to the far post where Sturgess arrived bang on time only to place the ball the wrong side of the post. Half time and Poole were a shock goal down.

Half time: 1-0.

From the start of the second half Poole were fired up to put the first forty five minutes right. The attitude was good and they set about the home side with pace and strength. On 53 minutes Sturgess surged forward from the midfield and as the ball bounced about 25 yards out he produced an exquisite volley with the outside of his right foot which saw the ball fly into the top right corner. A better technical finish you will not see this season and is highly typical of what this player can produce.

On 64 minutes Gill, who was a constant menace to Alton down the right wing all night, produced another good cross. Despite a defender getting a touch the ball dropped perfectly to Steve Smith and his left foot volley easily found the back of the net. Now in front Poole were in total charge as the heads of the very young Alton team began to drop. Despite this they are a good young side and will surely finish a lot higher than their current league position would indicate.

With twenty minutes left Leigh Phillips replaced Steve Smith and he worked hard alongside Austin to close the Alton defenders down and retain possession for Poole. On 80 minutes Austin had a couple of shots blocked and when the ball came out to Skelton 30 yards out there was only going to be one outcome. After a good first touch he ripped a right foot shot into the left corner of the net and the points were secure. From the restart Poole won the ball back and Gill crossed from the right for Bailey-Pearce to get up at the far post to head home number four.

Young Jordan Fisk came on for Austin and Mickey Hubbard replaced Aaron Skelton. Fisk looked immediately dangerous seeing one bullet header go just wide before heading home superbly from a corner on the 90th minute. Applauding every ball to try and release him into space the boy looked full of confidence - what a prospect.

5-1 looks a convincing victory and by the end it certainly was. But for a lot of the game the match looked in the balance. A brilliant second half performance was enough to move the Dolphins back up to second in the table and still in control of the league.