Poole Town have gone top of the southern premier league after they annihilated Dorchester Town at the Avenue for the second time in a week, this time hitting five as the magpies slumped to their fourth straight defeat.
Poole made a bright start, and Dorchester keeper Shane Murphy made a nervous start as he only managed to parry a Steve Devlin shot which was straight at him behind for a corner.
The hosts fought back, and only a couple of brave blocks on the line from goalkeeper Nick Hutchings and skipper Jamie Whisken denied Jonah Ayunga and Bradley Tarbuck respectively. And the significance of those two blocks was proven minutes later, as the visitors took a fifteenth minute lead when Will Spetch bundled home Steve Devlin’s corner from close range.
Jamie White could have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards but Shane Murphy was quick off his line to deny him. The striker did have the ball in the net again minutes later but his effort was ruled out for offside.
But the reprieve was short lived, as two goals in the space of four minutes put Poole in cruise control, and left the Magpies with a mountain to climb.
On 35 minutes a quick breakaway saw Luke Burbridge feed the ball into the path of Jamie White, and he kept his composure to fire the ball past Murphy for 2-0, before on 39 minutes Steve Devlin drove a free kick hard and low into the box and Michael Walker got the final touch to make it 3-0 going into half time.
Any faint hopes the Magpies might have had of a comeback were extinguished five minutes into the second half as they conceded a fourth goal on the night – and a third from a set piece. Devlin’s corner took a deflection off Nathan Walker and fell perfectly for Jamie White. He finished from close range to make it 4-0, and that was the signal fair a fair proportion of the home crowd to make their exits.
Dorchester huffed and puffed in search of a consolation, but just like in last week’s league cup tie, the Dolphins were content to sit back and continued to hit the hosts on the break.
On 73 minutes the fifth goal arrived and yet again it was from a set piece – Luke Roberts being afforded far too much time and space in the box before firing past Murphy.
It was almost six a couple of minutes later but Shane Murphy did well to tip Lewis Tallack’s effort around the post for a corner.
By now most home fans had headed home, whilst those who had stayed until the bitter end voiced their discontent with chants of “what a load of rubbish”.
Bradley Tarbucks powerful strike into the roof of the net deep into injury time did little to improve the mood – it was a truly woeful night for the Magpies. Their first home league defeat of the season sees them drop to ninth in the table – four points adrift of the final play-off spot which is currently occupied by Redditch United, who the Magpies travel to on Saturday in desperate need of a positive result to stop the rot.
Poole’s win moves them top of the table, two points clear of second placed Leamington, and six clear of both Weymouth and Chippenham Town, as the two sides played out a repeat of last month’s 1-1 draw.
It was an entertaining game between two sides who tried to play the game in the right way, and in truth it could have gone either way.
Ben Thomson had Weymouth’s first chance when he fired over the bar early on, and with ten minutes gone the Chippenham goalkeeper Kent Kauppinen had to be on his toes to keep it scoreless.
Chris Shephard’s cross to the back post was headed back into the path of Yetton by Dean Evans. His powerful strike looked destined for the top corner, but the keeper was on hand to pull off a stunning save to deny Yetton, and probably leave him wondering what on earth he needs to do to score again!
Shephard then forced another good save from Kauppinen shortly afterwards, whilst at the other end Chippenham could only produce a few speculative efforts from range which failed to test Matthews.
Weymouth were certainly looking far better than they had done on Saturday, and after half an hour they came close again when Jordan Copp stabbed the ball over from close range. Kauppinen then produced another good save following a real goalmouth scramble from a corner.
The Bluebirds gradually grew more into the contest in the final ten minutes of the first half.
Matt Smith headed wide from a corner, whilst Greg Tindle had a shot deflected just wide, as the two sides went in level at the break.
Weymouth continued to threaten at the start of the second half, and Kauppinen was again on hand to deny Ben Thomson, before finally on 61 minutes – the breakthrough finally arrived.
Mark Cooper picked the ball up and cut inside from the right, before advancing towards the edge of the D and unleashing a strike which completely wrong-footed the goalkeeper and nestled in the back of the net to the delight of a healthy away following behind the goal.
It was no more than the Terras deserved, but that goal seemed to spark the Bluebirds into life, and within six minutes they were level.
Matt Smith sent a perfect cross in and it was the man who equalised at the BLS last month – Ollie Taylor who got in between Baldwin and Matthews to head home for 1-1.
Suddenly Chippenham looked full of confidence, and they very nearly turned it around completely when Andy Sandell’s shot came back off the post, before Matthews rolled back the years with a stunning double-save, as the hosts threw the kitchen sink at Weymouth for the final twenty minutes.
However it was Weymouth who were within a lick of paint of sealing all three points in injury time, when Chris Shephard let fly and saw his effort crash against the crossbar, as the two sides settled for a point apiece again.
Certainly a much improved performance from Weymouth and they’ll be content to come away from Hardenhuish park with a full deserved draw that keeps them in the top five.
They’ll look to get back on track on home soil on Saturday when Kings Lynn Town make the long journey down to the Bob Lucas Stadium.
Kings Lynn have had a difficult start to life in the Southern Premier league and currently sit 15th in the table with twenty points. Scoring goals has been a big problem for them – with just fifteen goals from their fifteen games so far. Weymouth have only scored two more but their rock solid defensive record will give them the confidence that they can get back to winning ways on Saturday.
Meanwhile it’ll be a historic day for Poole Town, as the Dolphins look to make it into the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in their 125 year history. It won’t be easy for them though. They make the relatively short trip to Whitehawk of the conference South.
Whitehawk have made a fantastic start to the season and currently sit third in the table having lost just once so far this season, and they also boast the best goal scoring record in the division.
But of course Poole are no mugs themselves, and anything can happen in the FA Cup. They’ve already beaten conference south opposition once this season, and they’ll go their full of confidence after Tuesday night’s thrashing of Dorchester.
James Spring
