Poole Town returned to the summit of the Southern Premier League after a hard fought goalless draw with Weymouth in last night’s Dorset Derby.
The result leaves Poole needing only a draw against second placed Corby on Saturday, whilst Weymouth will need to win their final game at Biggleswade and hope for favours elsewhere if they are to make the play-offs.
In front of a bumper four figure crowd at the BLS, both sides made a cagey opening – with nothing more than a few wayward crosses to write home about in the opening twenty minutes.
Steve Devlin went closest – hitting a first time volley a yard or so wide of the mark, as both defences remained on top.
The game began to come to life after half an hour, when George Rigg linked up well with Chris Shephard down the right wing. Shephard cut inside and shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
Minutes later the two linked up again, and this time roles were reversed as Rigg was sent through in acres of space, but his first touch just took him away from goal, and in the end he could only shoot straight across the face of goal.
Rigg was causing the Poole defence a few probems, and just before half time he saw a looping header tipped onto the roof of net by Seabright, as the Terras ended the first half strongest, but the sides went in all square at the break.
Weymouth had marginally shaded it – with Poole resorting to a couple of hopeful efforts from range.
Weymouth continued in the second half where they’d left off – and skipper Stewart Yetton could only look on as his towering header drifted inches wide of the post.
Player-manager Jason Matthews then rolled back the years with a stunning diving save reminiscent of that he made from Walker in last week’s cup final. This time it was Harrison-Gilkes who could only watch as his shot that looked destined for the top left corner was palmed around the post by Matthews.
Gilkes was then in the thick of it again minutes later when he raced down the line with Dean Evans, only for the linesman to judge that the ball had rolled out of play. Frustrations began to boil over as the two squared up to each other, and both were given yellow cards for their troubles.
Just after the hour mark, everyone thought that Poole had broken the deadlock.
Jamie Whisken powered a towering header into the bottom corner, and the travelling supporters went wild – with a flare being thrown onto the pitch in the ensuing celebrations.
But those celebrations were premature, as to the relief of most of the crowd – the lineswoman had flagged for offside.
Not sure if the lifeboat did respond to the orange flare or not…
Weymouth sensed their opportunity following that escape, and Stewart Yetton was again inches away from opening the scoring when Dean Evans hook forward fell for him on the corner of the box, but his hooked shot flew just wide of the far post, much to the relief of visiting goalkeeper who was desperately scrambling across his goal.
With fifteen minutes to go, Weymouth began to throw everything at Poole, knowing that they needed the win more than their opponents.
Yetton headed goalwards from a corner but it was scrambled off the line by a covering defender, and seconds later from the resulting throw McPhee headed wide, as the Dolphins clung to the draw.
The full time whistle blew, and it was clear which side was happier with the result.
The draw was enough to take Poole back above Corby going into the final day, and it means Corby have to win at Tatnam to clinch the title.
Weymouth were visibly dejected. Just like on Saturday, they had put in a superb performance, and done everything but put the ball in the net.
Credit must go to Poole though, they have the league’s best defensive record and they did what they needed to do.
Weymouth go into the final game of the season two points off the play-offs. They’ll need to win their final game away to Biggleswade, and hope that St Neots Town lose away at Frome Town, who themselves will need to take something out of the game to be absolutely certain of survival at the other end of the table.
Weymouth fans were rightfully proud of their sides efforts last night, but many were also left wondering what might have been had that team not gone missing for the last three months.
But it’s not over just yet. Stranger things have happened. I saw Notts County win a match once. I think.. Or maybe it was a dream?
James Spring
