DISTRAUGHT manager Tom Killick pulled no punches after Poole Town had surrendered the Southern League title and admitted: “We only have ourselves to blame.”

Luke Roberts got Dolphins’ bid back on course with a brace to cancel out quick-fire second-half strikes from Corby’s Spencer Weir-Daley and Greg Mills.

But Weir-Daley fired home an 81st-minute winner and consigned Poole to a play-off semi-final with big-spending St Neots with the Tatnam boss keen for the wounded animal to show its teeth after the hurt of missing out on the crown.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “We had that five-minute spell where we lacked concentration and looked a long way from getting anything from the game.

“I thought we were very brave to battle back in the manner we did and having done that, I felt it was inexcusable.

“We only have ourselves to blame because we had a sufficient result in our hands and threw it away.

“You always come out of these situations full of regret and had we showed the same urgency as we did at 2-0 down throughout the game, we would never have been two goals behind in the first place.

“When you’re playing with lethargy it often takes losing a goal to snap you out of it. It is something that happens but after getting what we needed, the third goal was just dreadful.

“Now we have to concentrate on the play-offs and everyone has to come out fighting against St Neots.

“People were upset but I told the players they have to convert that into anger. I didn’t think a lot more could be said or that anything would make anyone feel any better afterwards.

“I am conscious that it may sound like I am clutching at straws but beating St Neots would give us another winner-takes-all opportunity where we could, perhaps, put things right.

“But we will need to earn that right. St Neots are a very competent team and we will have to play better than we did against Corby to beat them.

“We have to take the time to gather ourselves emotionally and be in a positive frame of mind. At the moment, it is hard to imagine how but it has to happen.”

Meanwhile, Killick revealed that Michael Walker had failed a late fitness test ahead of the Corby match and that the influential centre-half had formed part of his defensive masterplan to deal with the threat of visiting player-manager Tommy Wright.

The experienced former Leicester striker brought himself off the bench and teed up Weir-Daley’s winner.

Killick added: “We knew if the game was tight that they would bring on their player-manager and the plan was to immediately bring on Walks to man-mark him."

“Unfortunately he wasn’t fit to play any part but to be honest, we should still have dealt with it.”

Killick revealed that there was “little to no prospect” of Walker, Marvin Brooks or striker Richard Gillespie, featuring in Tuesday’s semi-final.