SUBSTITUTE Luke Roberts’s second-half heroics proved in vain as Poole Town suffered last-day heartbreak in their Southern League title shootout with Corby Town.

Dolphins, who needed only a draw to take the crown ahead of their visitors, let two goals slip in the first five minutes of an epic second half but Roberts plundered a pair of strikes to put Poole back in control.

However, in a crushing late twist, Corby player-manager Tommy Wright teed up Spencer Weir-Daley’s decisive second and seal a 3-2 victory nine minutes from time.

PICTURE GALLERY: Poole Town 2 Corby Town 3

Cherries loanee Joe Quigley came in for injury victim Richard Gillespie, Nick Hutchings returned in goal as Jordan Seabright dropped to the bench and Lewis Lindsay started at left-back ahead of Matt Butcher.

The match kicked off in front of the biggest crowd seen at Tatnam with 2,203 packing in, eclipsing the 1,716 that watched the Southern South & West play-off final defeat to Gosport Borough in 2012.

Poole’s Tom Whelan burst through central midfield and tested visiting keeper Paul Walker with a low angled drive after three minutes but that was not a sign of things to come.

Corby fashioned a couple of well-worked moves without testing Hutchings, while the hosts threatened when Quigley raced on to a through ball but the visitors got bodies back to snuff out the danger.

There was panic at the back for Poole after half an hour when Corby full-back Stephan Morley recycled the ball and found Weir-Daley at the far post but the striker’s bobbling effort drifted wide of the far post.

Corby kept probing and were a whisker away from the opener on 33 minutes when experienced campaigner Cleveland Taylor’s towering header from a Morley corner had to be hacked off the line by Lewis Tallack.

At the other end, Whelan sprang through again but got held up by Jamie Anton and Corby’s Connor Kennedy thumped clear.

Morley’s speculative hit from distance forced an awkward stop from Hutchings as the Steelmen upped the ante but the stalemate was maintained at the interval.

However, it was the visitors that hit the ground running and netted 45 seconds into the second half when Ben Milnes broke through the middle and rolled in to Weir-Daley to caress the ball across Hutchings into the bottom far corner.

And worse was to follow when Greg Mills ran at Tallack and drew a foul just inside the box with referee Adam Ricketts pointing straight to the spot.

Mills dusted himself off to squeeze inside the left upright from 12 yards, despite a touch from Hutchings.

Quigley attempted to get Poole straight back into it with a strong surge down the right but his fierce drive across goal was just in front of Whelan.

Killick quickly shuffled his pack with Luke Roberts and Cherries youngster Butcher introduced but Milnes almost made it three on the hour with a curling effort which was spectacularly clawed out of the top corner by Hutchings.

And that save turned the match on its head as Dolphins halved the deficit within three minutes.

Roberts rolled Quigley down the left to fire across goal and the ex-AFC Totton frontrunner arrived late to crash home from six yards.

And Poole thought they would have the last laugh when Steve Devlin’s free-kick was cleared by the first defender only for substitute Mason Walsh, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes, to hook back in for Roberts to steal a march on Walker and net the leveller.

Corby boss Tommy Wright immediately responded by bringing himself on for Milnes and all of a sudden, the pendulum swung once more with the player-manager at the hub of the penalty area scramble which saw Weir-Daley force the ball home with Hutchings grounded.

Dolphins pushed for another equaliser in a fraught finish but it was Corby who should have wrapped it up with a minute left when Mills rolled Carl Pettefer and raced in one-on-one with Hutchings, only to run wide with the net gaping.

In the third minute of added time, Hutchings went up for a last-gasp free-kick and won a near-post header before Lindsay had a shot blocked on the line but the final whistle went as soon as the resulting corner was cleared to leave Poole crestfallen. 

Dolphins will now enter the play-offs and host St Neots Town, who sealed their top-five place with a 1-1 draw at Frome today, on Tuesday at Tatnam (7.45pm).

Dolphins: Hutchings, Tallack (Roberts, 54), Spetch, Lindsay, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge, Devlin, Quigley, Whelan (Butcher, 54), Gilkes (Walsh, 74).

Unused subs: Emmerson, Seabright (g/k).

Booked: Tallack.

Corby: Walker, Kennedy, Morley, Anton, N’Goma, Byrne, Mills, Taylor, Milnes (Wright, 78), Weir-Daley, Carvalho (Chamberlain, 71).

Unused subs: Thomas, Donkin, Gascoigne.

Referee: Adam Ricketts (Bristol)

Attendance: 2,203.