BOSS Tom Killick piloted Poole Town into the third qualifying round and then hailed his players for their “exceptional effort”.

Goals from Michael Walker, Richard Gillespie and Will Spetch saw the Dolphins register a 3-2 win over National South outfit Hayes & Yeading at Maidenhead’s York Road headquarters on Saturday.

It was the first time Poole had conquered higher-level opposition in the FA Cup since 2011 and avenged a defeat at the hands of the Middlesex club in 2010 which earned them a tie against Wycombe in the first round.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “I was elated. Since I have been here, the draw has not been kind to us and this was another away tie against a team from a higher level. I thought it might be an occasion where we might not have enough but it was an exceptional effort.

“We went 3-0 in front and overwhelmed them. At that point, it looked like it might be quite a straight forward victory. But as is often the case, we decided to make things a little complicated and conceded a bad goal.

“They were encouraged, they committed a lot of people forward and it was difficult as the second half progressed. But until the nervousness at the end, it had been convincing from us.”

Walker headed home a Steve Devlin corner to give Poole an early lead before Gillespie’s superb lobbed effort doubled their advantage midway through the first half.

Spetch, on as a half-time replacement for Gillespie, atoned for an earlier miss when he made it 3-0 with a finely-taken strike in the 52nd minute before goals from Josh Scott and Ismael Ehui made for a nervy end for the Dolphins.

Killick, whose club banked £4,500 in prize money for the win, added: “Richard can’t play for long periods at the moment and had run his race by half-time.

“We brought on Will because they had a couple of powerful lads and knew he would be a presence for us defensively.

“He missed a fairly easy opportunity just after he had come on and then scored a brilliant goal. He really played his part.

“So far this season, we have either looked good going forward and a bit vulnerable defensively or we have looked strong defensively and not that efficient going forward. But against Hayes, we were much better and had a good balance.

“I know we conceded twice, but we did well defensively and also looked a threat every time we went forward. It was much closer to how I feel we are capable of playing. It was a brilliant day all round for us.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Tallack, Lindsay, Walker, Whisken, Pettefer, Burbidge (Connell, 90), Devlin, Brooks, Roberts (Moore, 80), Gillespie (Spetch, h-t). Unused subs: Holmes, Davidson, Collins (g/k).