Poole have been riding their luck of late turning in some unconvincing performances but still coming away with the points, if not all of them. But they hit a wall today against a highly motivated and well coached Blackfield & Langley side who taught them a lesson in commitment and self-belief while stealing away a well earn three points into the bargain.
With Taffy and Lamin injured and suspended, Stu Brown, Dave Sturgess, Aaron Skelton and Billy Pearce all unavailable, Tom’s squad is looking ever more depleted by the week. Pete Smith had made the journey home to Poole and was joined in the line up by Jordan Fisk and Will Spetch on the bench both getting call ups from the reserves. But the team have not looked like Champions with those missing players in the squad of late either, so a dilemma. Today’s strike force was Russell Cook as the lone man, supported by Culliford, Hubbard and Gill in the middle withTrefor and Carl Preston out wide. 4-5-1 at Home!?!
In the first half Poole had the better of the play and they created the best chances, but that final ball was missing and with the strikers all playing with their backs to the visitors goal for much of the game, they all looked reluctant to shoot from any range. Maybe that was the plan, but it didn’t work. Cook missed a sitter when he got onto a cross from Preston with just three minutes gone, he fired wide from 6 yards, with just the B&L keeper, Hawkins to beat. On 7 minutes Culliford crossed in from the left byeline which the keeper cut out denying a second golden chance for a score.
Service from both wings for Poole was good throughout the game with Carl Preston supplying a string of pacy balls though the 6 yard channel but no one was reading them and getting anywhere near them to get a touch let alone score. The long ball looked to be working well too. On 9 minutes. Ross Lloyd , who put in a fine first half performance, robbed Hamadou and fired a quick ball forward for Preston to again supply a cross in from the left. The keeper blocked the cross and Culliford was on hand for the rebound but Hawkins dropped on the loose ball before a shot could be got off. And so it went on. Cross after cross in from both wings, picked off by the able Hawkins or simply not touched as they flew through the area. Surely the Poole front men could see that Trefor Smith and Carl Preston had the measure of their respective backs?
On 29 minutes Carl Poore lobbed forward for Cook to burst through but his shot was again blocked and fumbled by Hawkins who was again quickest to the loose ball. The half inevitably ended scoreless despite Poole’s efforts, Culliford’s late drive curling wide from 20 yards being the last effort on the visitors goal.
Half time: 0-0.
Poole could and should have had the lead to start the second half and went looking to rectify that from the whistle and set out to attack in numbers, but it was the visitors who grabbed the first goal and the initiative within two minutes of the restart. Floyd Hamadou, who proved his power and speed on the ball to the Tatnam faithful in a Poole shirt at the end of last season but now plying his trade for the visitors, latched on a quickly cleared ball from Gill’s cross in that caught Poole in total attack mode. With just Luke Whitley to beat he ran for goal before turning inside the retreating Whitley and gained the space to fire a shot that flew under Jones into the far side of the goal. Poole down 1 to nil.
That goal completely changed the nature of the game. Any creative juices that Poole had left to feed on, dried up completely and Blackfield’s defence, that had coped well thus far looked almost impervious from here on in. They also had their tails up going forward and looked increasingly more likely to score again with every new attack.
Poole tried to answer immediately, Hubbard’s free kick from the side edge of the visitor’s area being headed just over by Luke Whitley, but Blackfield answered with a blistering 20 yard shot a few minutes later from Shaun Hughes. Subs from Poole’s bench, Dovell for Gill and Steve Smith for Cook, failed to ring much of a change. Surely Smith and Cookie could have done better being on together? Hubbard had a another free kick from the area’s edge which Hawkins parried and Steve Smith blasted the rebound wide. But just as the equalising goal looked like never coming, Culliford obliged with an in off the near post from an acute angle on the left, Trefor Smith again supplying the cross from the opposite wing that flew through the area but this time was returned by Culliford who squeezed his shot through the smallest gap left by Hawkins reaching fingers at the near post. 1-1 with 69 minutes gone.
Poole fought hard for the winner and looked to have got it two minutes later, Dovell ran through the middle at the B&L goal then slipped the ball forward to Culliford and Smith who were falling over each other to break clear of the visitors back four line. Smith got the touch eventually and fired under Hawkins to score but the flag had gone up for offside. Had Smithy left it for Culilford, at his shoulder, to shoot the goal would have stood, it was that tight, but blindingly obvious and the Lino got it spot on.
Poole kept pushing forward, but were constantly been caught out by the flying Hamadou at the near empty Poole end. On 73 minutes, Blackfield broke with a long ball, Luke Whitley covered Colin Bookman as he advanced with the ball but a deft pass to the unmarked Hamadou streaking in from the left brought a top draw save from Jones. But the lesson went unheeded and just three minutes later, a copy cat move with the same protagonists was played out and this time Hamadou beat Jones, rocketing the ball under his dive to put Blackfield ahead once more. On 80 minutes Hamadou was through again turning Lloyd, to gain the space for a shot that Jones managed to stop dead with a single hand at full stretch and almost unbelievably on 84 minutes he turned Lloyd again and brought another fine save from Jones who also snatched the loose rebound before Hamadou could get to it.
Poole’s finest move of the half came on 90 minutes with a 1-2-1 played between Jordan Fisk and Trefor Smith to lay the left wing wide open, but Fisk’s low byeline cross was just beyond Steve Smith’s lunge to turn it home.
Final score 1-2 and a second loss in the league of the season. Not the end of the world or a title challenge on the face of it, but it had been coming and based on this display and those throughout this month, there will be more without a drastic change somewhere and quick. Poole no longer look like Champions, but mediocre and ordinary. Surely the loss of two players can’t make that much of a difference. Simon Browne and Charlie Austin (who put in 18 minutes for Swindon Town in Football League One today) don’t make a team alone or were they holding it together after all?
