BOSS Ollie Cherrett admitted he had been a relieved man after seeing leaders Merley Cobham Sports secure a hard-fought win against struggling Poole Borough at Turlin Moor.

The Hornets, beaten 9-2 by Swanage in the Dorset Senior Cup in midweek, twice battled back to level before an own goal late on by John Bates saved the day for Cherrett’s men.

Toby Williams struck to cancel out Dave Wrixton’s headed opener for the visitors before a Shane Barney penalty again restored parity after Grant Cormack had netted on the stroke of half-time.

A tense and absorbing contest, played in testing conditions, was settled when Bates turned a Matty Steer cross past his own goalkeeper Tom Rees in the closing stages.

Merley boss Cherrett told the Daily Echo: “I was overjoyed to come away with three points. Boro dug in and made it very difficult for us. They showed a lot of fighting spirit.

“The conditions were a major factor and the wind and rain made it a leveller. They had been hammered in midweek and we were always fearful of a backlash.

“I thought we dealt with the conditions reasonably well and took control of the game early on. They equalised against the run of play, possibly, but they were always in the game and competed well.

“We regained the lead at the end of the first half and you thought their heads may have dropped as a result of that. But they came out in the second half and had a right go. Their work rate was different class. They deservedly got a second equaliser and put us under a lot of pressure.

“But we kept creating chances and just needed to take one. The own goal was probably unavoidable because it was such a good cross and one of our lads was waiting to tap it home anyway.

“It knocked the stuffing out of them and we saw out the game extremely well which I was pleased with.

“Considering the conditions, it was a good game between two committed teams.”

The only downside for Merley was the loss to injury of striker Luke Stone who looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

His departure forced Cherrett to throw on goalkeeper coach Colin Randall with number one Jamie Perry playing the final 12 minutes on the left wing.

Hornets boss Henry Simpson said: “It was a great response from the lads and they were outstanding.

“We had a few players playing out of position and Jake Firth made his debut at this level. I was proud of every one of them.”

Poole Borough: Rees, Marshall, Firth, Teppett, Bates, Tomar (Mitchell, 75), Morgan (Collins, 75), Barney, Thomas, Pickering, Williams.

Merley Cobham Sports: Perry, Elysee (Wolfenden, 75), Atkins, Dand, Pritchard, Wrixton, Rowe, Atkinson (Steer, 60), Stone (Randall, 78), Cormack, Cannie.