DEFEAT in today’s Southern League decider has left Poole Town facing the lottery of the play-offs.

As runners-up, Dolphins will host fifth-placed St Neots Town at Tatnam on Tuesday (7.45pm) for the right to play either Truro City or Hungerford on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4.

In all cases, play-off matches in the Southern League are decided by one-off matches with extra-time and kicks from the penalty mark if necessary. The highest-placed club gets home advantage.

St Neots were the red-hot pre-season favourites for the title and gradually forced their way into contention after a slow start.

The Saints rather suddenly relieved manager Zema Abbey of his duties in October and soon embarked on a six-match winless streak in the league which featured four consecutive defeats to Chesham, Redditch, Truro and Cambridge City.

Their patchy form continued until the turn of the year but a healthy return of 37 points from 20 games in 2015 under new boss David Batch saw the division’s big spenders climb into the play-off places on the back of a 16-match unbeaten streak in the Southern League.

Saints secured the point they required on the last day with a 1-1 draw at relegation-haunted Frome, who also only needed a share of the spoils to stay up.

Truro host their semi-final with Hungerford at the same time as Poole play St Neots.