Poole profited from penalty miss admits boss Killick (From Bournemouth Echo)

Poole profited from penalty miss admits boss Killick

12:15am Wednesday 9th January 2013 in Non league football By Neil Perrett

POOLE Town boss Tom Killick admitted Andrew White’s penalty miss for Winchester City may have been a defining moment in Dolphins’ 3-1 win at the DenPlan Stadium last night.

White, who had earlier cancelled out Michael Walker’s seventh-minute opener, put his spot-kick into orbit when Poole were leading 2-1 on the stroke of half-time.

After White had levelled with a 10th-minute header, City old boy Michael Charles struck to restore Poole’s advantage in the 29th minute before Steve Devlin’s late penalty completed the scoring.

Poole’s unconvincing victory against a struggling City outfit saw them close the gap on leaders Hungerford to just two points, with second-placed Dolphins having four games in hand.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “It was a horrible night and a horrible game. From our point of view, there was only one remotely pleasing thing and that was the result. Everything else was dire.

“We looked a bit brighter in the second half and perhaps should have scored more than we did. But I thought we were indifferent and made heavy weather of the whole thing from start to finish.

“The penalty miss was a real bonus for us. If they had scored then, I think we could have come under some pressure.

“I thought they might capitulate after we had scored an early goal because they were such a young side and had have a bad time of it recently.

“But they had something to play for after we conceded just a few minutes later. They did well, they made it hard for us and we were lacking a little.

“It was one of those games where you were just pleased to come through unscathed because, with a performance like that and on a night like that, there was a lot of potential for dropping points.”

Poole skipper Walker nipped in front of City goalkeeper Ross Casey to head home Devlin’s free-kick as the visitors drew first blood.

But Dolphins’ much-vaunted defence then shipped a third headed goal in their past two games when White rose to meet Ben Wilson’s free-kick.

Lamin Dibba’s clumsy challenge on White presented the striker with a gilt-edged opportunity to draw City level, although his touch deserted him from the spot.

And while Poole enjoyed the lion’s share of both possession and chances in the second half, they were still thankful to goalkeeper Nick Hutchings for saving from Wilson’s free-kick.

Charles, who had a header cleared off the line, was thwarted on more than one occasion by Casey, although the City goalkeeper was powerless to keep out Devlin’s thunderous penalty two minutes from time after Adam Kelly had been felled by Matt O’Dell.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Clarke, Spetch, K Emmerson (Dibba, 36), Walker, Howes (Richardson, 85), Burbidge (S Brown, 70), Devlin, Charles, Kelly, Brooks. Unused subs: Baines, T Brown (g/k).

• Hamworthy United chalked up a 2-1 win over Wessex Premier strugglers New Milton Town at the County Ground.

Carl Bradley’s strike three minutes before the interval lit up an otherwise dull first half, his rasping drive from a Paddy Hester cut-back finding the bottom corner of the net.

Although the half-time scoreline was harsh on the visitors, Hammers took control after the break and a bizarre second sent Simon Browne’s charges on their way to victory.

Linnets defender Dan Pidgley attempted to head a loose ball back to goalkeeper Mike Hookway, only for it to somehow squirm away from the scrambling stopper and bobble into the net.

And although Dan Cox bagged his fifth goal in four matches to halve the deficit late on, a grandstand finish failed to materialise as the hosts comfortably saw out the game.

Hammers: Knight, Murray, Staines, Horlock, Ayling, Sturgess, Carlile (Penny, 63), Lanahan, Bradley, Shovelton (Pekun, 73), Hester. Unused subs: Wyatt, Manuel, Shear (g/k).

Linnets: Hookway, Blackburn, Pidgley, Barge, Morris, Fox, Egerton, Booker (Donaldson, 65), Proctor (De’ath, 65), Cox, Roberts. Unused subs: Head, Curtis.

• New Milton-based referee Gary Parsons took charge of the final 35 minutes of Luton Town's Conference clash with Barrow at Kenilworth Road last night.

Parsons, who had started the game on the line, stepped in for injured referee John Hopkins after 55 minutes. The Hatters won 6-1.