CARL Poore declared himself content after his first game in charge of Verwood Town had ended in a 1-1 draw with Fawley.

The former Cranborne boss could not get off to a winning start at Potterne Park but was happy enough with the performance he witnessed.

Sam Joy gave Verwood the lead in the first period when he thundered home a header from Nathan Saxby’s cross.

However, Fawley levelled not long before half-time when slack marking allowed the visitors to net from a corner.

That was how it stayed until the final whistle, meaning ex-Poole Town favourite Poore ended a run of three consecutive losses for his new club.

The manager told the Daily Echo: “We could easily have been three or four goals up after 25 minutes, but their keeper made a couple of good saves and we missed some chances.

“In the second half they were much the better team and they could easily have scored four or five, so it was definitely a game of two halves, but a point apiece was a fair result in the end.

“We had a couple missing including our captain Charlie Gajic and I think four games in seven days took its toll on the players. That is a lot of games to play at this level and it showed.

“In the first 25 minutes we played at a blistering pace but we faded as the game went on, because of the amount of games the team have played in the last week.”

Verwood: Lynch, Evans, Murray, Molyneaux, Hampton, Dyer, Joy (Satterley, 80), L Speechley-Price (Elysee, 65), Saxby, Lovell, Hill. Unused subs: M Speechley-Price, Rutten.

Mid-table Bournemouth Poppies shared a 2-2 draw with Blackfield & Langley while Christchurch picked up a point following a 1-1 stalemate with Moneyfields.

In Wessex One, New Milton Town drew 3-3 with United Services Portsmouth and Ringwood Town were thumped 4-1 by Fleet Spurs.