Poole and Dorchester Town both picked up fantastic 3-2 victories on the road on Saturday to maintain their promising starts to the new season.
The Dolphins made the long trip to Cambridgeshire to face fellow title favourites St Neots Town, and they became the first side of the calendar year to leave Rowley Park with three points thanks to goals from Keith Emmerson, Luke Roberts and Luke Burbridge.
It was a tight first half, with St Neots starting the brighter of the two sides and striking the woodwork early on. But Poole took a crucial lead into half time when Keith Emmerson kept his composure to fire hard and low into the bottom corner of the net, after the ball had found its way into his path following a quick game of pinball.
The second half was a real end-to-end affair, with both sides continuing to try and catch eachother out on the break. But on 66 minutes, the Saints finally levelled things up – Remy Gordon receiving the perfect cross and firing past Nick Hutchings.
Being the home side, you would have expected the Saints to push on from there and go for the winner, but instead two goals in the space of four minutes won the game for the Dolphins.
Just three minutes after the equaliser, Luke Roberts was introduced to the action, and the first thing he did was latch onto a long ball from the back, and he kept his composure before tucking it into the corner to put Poole back in front.
Luke Burbridge added a third goal minutes later – riding a couple of challenges before finishing neatly inside the area, and despite Connor Hall’s late goal to make it 3-2, the Dolphins held on to secure a thoroughly deserved victory, and ensure they ended the first week of the season with 7 points from a possible 9. An excellent start, especially when you consider their opponents so far.
Their opponents last Monday were Hungerford own, and the Crusaders remain winless this season after a stunning second half fightback from Dorchester Town saw them take all three points from Bullpit Lane for the second season in a row.
Two first half strikes from Nat Jarvis seemingly had Hungerford in control and on their way to their first win of the season. But they didn’t bank on the Magpies hitting three goals in the first thirteen minutes of the second half!
Chris Dillon got the ball rolling just two minutes after the break – heading home Matt Oldring’s cross to halve the deficit.
Having looked in complete control during the first half, Hungerford were suddenly rattled, and ten minutes into the second half they were back to square one – as Ben Watson’s inch-perfect pass found Oakley Hanger, and the youngster made no mistake – firing home to haul the visitors level.
The hosts were stunned, and just before the hour mark, the remarkable turnaround was complete when Lewis Morgan finished from close range following the mother of all goal mouth scrambles, sending the rowdy away following into raptures.
Hungerford never recovered from that, and in truth if anyone was going to score again Dorchester were always far more likely. But in the end those three quick goals proved to be enough to hand them their first away win of the season.
It’s a very impressive first week for the Magpies. They’ve hit three goals in each of their opening three games, and are certainly giving their fans plenty of cause for quiet optimism. They’ve caused sides you would expect to be in the mix plenty of problems, and certainly have a lot more resolve and backbone than they did a year ago.
Unfortunately Weymouth were unable to make it two straight home wins, as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Dunstable Town.
In truth it wasn’t a particularly entertaining game, with the best of the entertainment coming from legendary keeper Paul Bastock – who is well known throughout non-league for his banter with opposing fans.
Weymouth can take heart from the fact they at least managed to keep a clean sheet though – something that was all too rare last season. Their defensive frailties probably would’ve cost them a point last season.
They’ll be hoping to make it three games unbeaten on Tuesday night when they welcome Bideford to the Bob Lucas Stadium.
The game was originally due to be played at Bideford’s Kingsley Road, but due to problems with the Devon club’s floodlights, the fixture has been switched, meaning it’ll be a third home game in seven days for the Terras.
Elsewhere on Tuesday night, there’s a tasty looking game at Tatnam as Poole Town welcome newly promoted Merthyr Town to the south coast, whilst Dorchester will be hoping to keep the goals flowing when they entertain Frome Town at the Avenue Stadium.
An encouraging first week of the season for all three Dorset clubs.
James Spring
