One of the most anticipated league encounter of the season saw the might of Dorset go head to head at Cuthbury as the Poole Town Dolphins travelled to take on the Wimborne Magpies. A crowd of 596 and a great atmosphere accompanied the action.
No James Bailey-Pearce saw Michael White come into the starting line-up as Poole switched to three at the back (Dibba, White and Poore) with two wing backs operating the flanks (Browne and Whitley). Other than that it was business as usual with the Poole line-up.
Needless to say both sides were really up for this match and it was always going to be a tight affair. The slippy conditions made good football very difficult and the opening minutes saw both sides trying to take control in the middle. The first chance for either side fell on 16 minutes and it was Poole who nearly took the lead. Taffy Richardson received the ball wide on the right and he played the ball into Austin inside the Wimborne area. The young striker twisted, turned and fired off a shot which beat the keeper but came back off the inside of the left hand post and skewed back across the face of goal before being cleared from beyond the right hand post.
Ironically the first goal came from a Hubbard freekick for Poole to the right of the Wimborne area. The freekick was a poor one and failed to clear Stokoe just ten yards away. With Poole players pushed up for the kick, Stokoe raced away with the ball and sprinted fully 70 yards before squaring to Dave Town who had an easy finish. The home side were a goal up.
Poole dug in well for the next few minutes as they sought to get back in the game. On 40 minutes Stu Brown produced a great cross and Charlie Austin headed back across the goal, beating the keeper but also going just wide of the post. Just four minutes later and on the stroke of half time Poole got their deserved equaliser. A diagonal ball across the defence saw a couple of Poole players coming back from an offside position but Kevin Gill timed his run to perfection and knocked the ball wide of Walker-Harris in the Wimborne goal before firing in from a very tight angle. It set the match up perfectly for the second half.
Half time: 1-1
Wimborne's best spell of the match came immediately on the restart. For the first ten minutes they really went at Poole and the Dolphins were very much on the back foot. The pressure paid off for the hosts when a shot was superbly tipped onto the bar by Poole keeper Harvell and in the ensuing melee a penalty was awarded for a trip inside the box. Wimborne skipper Paul Roast made no mistake from the spot and the home side were in front again. Instead of maintaining their momentum Wimborne immediately took their foot off the pedal and dropped deeper into their own half, effectively giving the ball to Poole and encouraging them to come forward. Poole needed no second invitation and poured forward looking for the equaliser.
Steve Smith and Dave Sturgess replaced Simon Browne and Carl Poore on 70 minutes. On 74 minutes Poole won a freekick wide out on the right side touchline. Mickey Hubbard's cross into the box was picked up by the wind and flew into the top left corner of the net deceiving everyone including the keeper. It certainly made up for the freekick in the first half!
Jack Swann came on for Stuart Brown as both sides looked to win the game in the last ten minutes. Swann had a great chance to score and then Steve Smith snatched a shot wide of the left hand post when a goal looked certain. At the other end substitute Scott Joyce headed against the Poole bar but in the end the two sides played out a deserved 2-2 draw.
