ASSISTANT manager James Wood admitted that Poole Town were “a bit fortunate” to remain in the FA Trophy following a 1-1 draw with Didcot Town.

The Dolphins trailed their Southern League rivals at half-time thanks to Pablo Haysham’s goal eight minutes before the interval. But two substitutions at the break helped the hosts fight back with Sam Wilson’s fifth goal in five matches securing a replay.

Poole have now required a replay in all three rounds of the Trophy as the two teams prepare to do it all again at Loop Meadow tomorrow night, where they will battle for £3,250 prize money and a place in the next round.

But Wood was just happy to be in today’s draw following a below-par display. He told the Daily Echo: “We weren’t that pleased with the performance, to be honest. The whole side was a bit flat and we didn’t play at all well in the first half. In our last game against Hungerford, we set a high tempo and we talked to the players about repeating that in this game, but the lads didn’t really get going.

“The important thing is we have another crack at it, but we were a bit fortunate with how we played. We were below par and wanted to see a little bit more zip and energy.

“The pleasing thing was that the substitutions made a difference for us. Karim (Lammali) looked really lively and became the focal point of our second-half display and that gave us a real lift. I thought we were worth the draw because we were the better side in the second half, even if we didn’t reach the levels we expect to.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Baines, Spetch, Clarke, Walker (Dibba, h-t), Emmerson, Burbidge, Kelly, Wilson (S Brown, 75), Preston, Brooks (Lammali, h-t). Unused subs: Richardson, Devlin.