POOLE Town boss Tom Killick is convinced teenager Luke Holmes is destined for “bigger and better things” following his impressive start to life in the Premier Division.

Holmes, son of former Cherries star Matt Holmes, opened his account for the Dolphins when he netted the only goal in their 1-0 win at Biggleswade on yesterday.

The 18-year-old’s finely-taken individual effort helped Poole move into third spot in the table ahead of Tuesday’s eagerly-awaited visit of fourth-placed Dorchester to Tatnam.

Holmes, who was released by Cherries towards the end of last season, switched from Wimborne to Poole when he signed a one-year deal at the start of last month.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “He has coped with the step up really well. He gives us something different and is technically very good. We feel he is only going to improve.

“He scored a good goal and I am pleased to have him because I see improvement and progression in him. Hopefully, from his point of view, he can go on to bigger and better things.”

Killick, who saw Poole register their third away win of the campaign in Bedfordshire, added: “Everyone reacts differently to being released by a pro club but Luke has a good mentality. I am sure his dad helps in relation to that because he is a very grounded and sensible guy.

“Luke seems to have dealt with it very well. I think it was good for him to see a bit of progression in getting away from Wimborne. He did enough there to make the step up to us and that bodes well for him.

“I am not going to pretend this is the best league in the world but you don’t get many 18-year-olds playing week in, week out. A lot of them are good enough technically but, physically, sometimes they aren’t.

“It is no mean feat to be playing regularly for an established team in this league and Luke is doing that. He should be pleased with what he has done so far but we think he can do more.”

Holmes’s goal ensured Poole would record a fourth successive win over the Waders having done the double last season and put them out of the FA Trophy.

Killick added: “They were very direct. They had a couple of chances but we had more. We hit the woodwork three times and they hit it once. It was quite an open game for a 1-0 but I thought we just about deserved it.

“You generally have a couple of anxious moments when you are winning 1-0 away from home. But the best thing from our point of view was that we saw out the game and it was relatively uneventful at the end.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Lindsay, Spetch (Tallack, 47), Walker, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge, Gleeson, Roberts (Connell, 78), Brooks, Holmes (Davidson, 61).Unused sub: Gillespie.