NEW recruit Warren Byerley tonight opened his goal account to earn Poole Town a share of the spoils from a 1-1 draw at Bishops Cleeve in Division One South & West of the Southern League.

The Dorchester Town striker, who has been dual registered by the Dolphins, levelled with a powerful header just five minutes after Carl Brown had opened the scoring for the hosts.

Byerley arrived at the near post to nod home Luke Burbidge’s inch-perfect cross in the 57th minute as high-flying Poole were forced to settle for a point against the struggling Villagers at Kayte Lane.

Bishops Cleeve, who doubled their home points tally thanks to the draw, survived as Carl Preston hit both post and crossbar for the visitors in a game of few clear chances.

Poole boss Tom Killick told the Daily Echo: “We have been looking for someone who can lead the line and is also a goal threat and Warren has done well in his two games for us, particularly as he is not fully fit.

“He has scored goals in the league above and was full-time at Kettering so has a good pedigree. He scored a great header tonight and it came at a really good time for us because we had just gone behind. We are hoping he can make a big impact while he is with us and he has certainly started well.”

Byerley, who is on non-contract terms with Dorchester, will spend an initial month with Poole and will boost their firepower options during a key period for the promotion hopefuls.

Discussing the game, Killick said: “We weren’t at our best and it wasn’t much of a game. There wasn’t an awful lot of football played by either team.

“But, having gone behind, we were reasonably satisfied with a point, especially taking into account it was by no means one of our better performances.”

Killick was full of praise for young goalkeeper Tom Brown, who deputised for the unavailable Nick Hutchings, when he said: “He couldn’t have done anything about the goal and turned in a calm and assured display.”

Dolphins: Brown, Clarke, Spetch, Dibba, Walker, Howes, Burbidge, Devlin, Byerley, Preston, Kelly (Wright, 70). Unused subs: Wilson, Baines, Brooks, Collier.