Howes address inspires Dolphins (From Bournemouth Echo)

Howes address inspires Dolphins

7:00am Monday 25th February 2013 in Non league football

POOLE Town boss Tom Killick revealed his players were inspired to a 1-0 victory over Mangotsfield United following injury-stricken Glenn Howes’s “emotional” pre-match address at Tatnam.

Popular midfielder Howes will be out for at least the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury during Poole’s 2-2 draw at Merthyr on February 16.

And the Dolphins’ talisman, who turned down a move to Gosport Borough over the summer, played his own unique part in Poole’s lat est victory with some selfless words before kick-off.

Manager Killick told the Daily Echo: “The lads were delighted to see Howesy and I thought his pre-match address really lifted the players.

“Everyone around the club had been saying ‘Win it for Howesy’ but he came in and said the lads should forget winning it for him and focus on winning it for them selves because they deserve to play at a higher level.

“It was quite emotional and the lads took that into the game.”

Poole ran the show in the first half but had only Michael Charles’s strike to show for their efforts at the break, with towering defender Michael Walker having two efforts hacked off the line.

The second half was more even but United’s hopes of grabbing an unlikely point evaporated when Ryan Bath was dismissed for two yellow cards in quick succession.

Killick added: “We played much better and were far more satisfied with the display.

“The lads were more fluent in their approach and created more chances than we had in midweek (against Evesham).

“We would have liked to have killed off the game but it was reasonably comfortable in the end.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Clarke, Spetch, Emmerson, Walker, Kelly (Richardson, 85), Charles (Burbidge, 65), Devlin, Byerley (Cann, 75), Preston, Brooks. Unused subs: Baines, T Brown.