POOLE Town surrendered the Southern League summit having kicked off 2015 with a dreary derby stalemate against Dorchester.

Dolphins kicked off knowing only a victory against their Dorset rivals would do after Corby had taken top spot courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Histon in the early kick off.

Tom Killick’s charges began brightly and created several openings during the first 20 minutes but dogged Dorchester gathered their composure and were worthy of their first league point in more than a month against the title chasers.

Killick made one enforced change from the Boxing Day victory at Frome and reshuffled his backline with Lewis Tallack replacing the injured Michael Walker. Mark Jermyn shifted across to centre-half.

After a tame opening, Steve Devlin almost opened the scoring with a 20-yard corker, meeting a loose ball flush on the half volley only for Dorchester keeper Shane Murphy to push his dipping effort wide of the left upright.

Moments later, tenacious midfielder Marvin Brooks won the ball in midfield and threaded through Richard Gillespie but the Poole striker was successfully shepherded away from goal by Chris Dillon.

Dolphins continued to open up their opponents at will with Jack Maloney and Luke Burbidge combining to tee up Gillespie once more but his snapshot was deflected wide for a corner.

Devlin then charged through a ragged Magpies backline only to lash over from an acute angle and having weathered the storm, the visitors brushed the crossbar through Nathan Walker’s far-post header from an Andy Robinson free kick during a rare foray forward.

But Poole somehow managed to go even closer three minutes before the break when Gillespie’s thumping close-range header was hacked off the line by Cherries loanee Mason Walsh.

Dorchester’s Matt Oldring and Jamie Gleeson had their names taken by referee Matt Eva for crunching tackles at the start of the second half as Poole enjoyed the lion’s share of possession without testing Murphy.

With his attacking options limited, Killick threw on flexible full-back Keith Emmerson in place of lone striker Gillespie midway through the second half.

But the change had little effect and it was Walker who went closest the breaking the deadlock at the other end with home defender Jamie Whisken clearing his scruffy goal-bound effort from a crowded penalty area.

Burbidge and Devlin had shots charged down during a brief flurry of pressure and Oldring was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 90th minute but Poole were unable to land the telling blow in front of a bumper crowd of 732.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Tallack, Martin, Jermyn, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge (Munday, 85), Devlin, Gillespie (Emmerson, 66), Brooks, Maloney. Unused subs: Lindsay, Davis, Manley (g/k).