MANAGER Tom Killick hailed the exploits of former Cherries youngster Harrison Gilkes in helping Poole Town return to the top of the Southern League.

Gilkes had a hand in three first-half goals – including scoring a finely-taken second – as the Dolphins made light work of seeing off the Rebels at Holloways Park yesterday.

The frontman is the son of Reading legend Michael Gilkes, who ended his illustrious playing career with a two-and-a-half-year spell at Slough between 2001 and 2004.

Gilkes junior has experienced mixed fortunes since joining Poole following his release by Cherries, where he had been in the development squad, at the start of December.

He suffered a hamstring injury during Dolphins’ FA Trophy defeat by Maidenhead before hitting the comeback trail earlier this month in a 1-0 home win against Burnham.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “He’s got electrifying pace and he really does scare defenders. He’s getting his fitness back after being out for three or four weeks and it has taken him a couple of games to reach his proper level. Slough just couldn’t deal with him.

“He created our first goal for Marvin Brooks with some really good play before scoring an excellent individual effort to make it 2-0. He also got brought down for a penalty, which Steve Devlin tucked away on the stroke of half-time.

“When young players get released by professional clubs, it tends to go one of two ways. Either they find it difficult to cope psychologically with the disappointment of it and it can take a while to recover or they have an instant determination to bounce back. From what I’ve seen, the latter looks to be the case with Harrison.”

A lack of firepower had been a concern for Killick after Poole had mustered just three goals in seven league games ahead of the visit of Chippenham last Tuesday. But they followed up their 3-1 midweek win over the Bluebirds with another accomplished performance in Buckinghamshire.

“I’m thinking of buying a new lawn mower with the striker fund we had been getting together because we don’t need it at the moment!” joked Killick.

Brooks broke the deadlock early on with his third league goal of the season before Gilkes opened his account for the club following a scintillating run and finish after 30 minutes. Devlin took his personal tally for the campaign into double figures when he netted from the spot after Gilkes had been felled before Luke Burbidge’s sublime scissors kick put the finishing touches to a deserved victory.

Killick added: “Our first-half display was one of our best of the season. I know Slough had drawn with Burnham during the week but they put three past Weymouth last Saturday and that was no mean feat.

“To win in the manner we did was an exceptional effort. Joe Quigley led the line really well and was a real threat and Harrison gave them all sorts of problems.

“The second half was fairly even but we always felt we could be quite comfortable providing we didn’t concede early on and that was the way it proved.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Tallack, Lindsay, Walker, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge, Devlin (Davis, 83), Quigley (Roberts, 71), Brooks, Gilkes (Gillespie, 77). Unused subs: Martin, Thomas (g/k).