SUPERSUB Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain made a dramatic introduction to his Poole Town loan spell – even though he almost missed the National South kick-off.

The Portsmouth youngster arrived at Weston-super-Mare's Woodspring Stadium just minutes before Tom Killick’s men had been due to take to the pitch having been stuck in traffic.

And after watching the first half from a seat in the dugout, Oxlade-Chamberlain then came off the bench to net the opening goal in their 2-1 victory just minutes after entering the fray.

His 75th-minute effort was added to by Jake Smeeton's first goal for the club before Jake Reid grabbed a late consolation for the hosts who had Tristan Plummer sent off for two bookings midway through the second half.

Poole boss Killick also got snarled up en route to Somerset having driven from the Isle of Wight where he is currently enjoying a family holiday.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “The traffic on the M4 around Bristol was horrendous. I got to the ground about an hour before kick-off but Christian didn’t get there until half-past-two.

“He had driven from Portsmouth and barely had time to meet anyone. But he scored not long after coming on so it was one way to integrate himself with his new team-mates!”

Killick added: “Everything worked out well in the end, although the result probably looked a little unlikely at times in the first half because Weston started very well.

“They were very good technically, had a lot of possession and kept the ball well. We had to hang in there in the first half and our players did well because they didn’t panic.

“At this level, if you aren’t having a lot of possession there is a tendency to start thinking you have to do something very different but they stuck to the task.

“Things turned our way in the second half and the only blemish was conceding with 30 seconds left. We take great pride in keeping clean sheets so that was the only frustration.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain, brother of England and Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, was picked out by Luke Burbidge’s pinpoint cross and forced home the ball from close range to make it 1-0.

Smeeton doubled their lead five minutes from time, the defender finishing with aplomb into the far corner from just inside the 18-yard box.

“I’ve been giving Jake a tough time since he joined us,” said Killick. “He came with a reputation as someone who could score long-range goals but I don’t think he had even had a shot for us before this goal. It was a great finish.”

On Plummer’s sending off, Killick said: “The referee and linesman did well. One of their players put the ball in the net with his hand and the referee initially gave it. But he consulted his linesman and, rightly, ruled it out.

“Later, one of their players, who had already been booked, tried to stop us taking a quick free-kick and received a second yellow. It would have been a frustrating sending off from their perspective.”

Poole host Bognor Regis Town at the Black Gold Stadium on Tuesday.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Lindsay, Spetch, Whisken, Smeeton, Devlin, Pettefer, Moore, Burbidge (Balmer, 90), Lee (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 60), Dickson (Bedford, 70). Unused subs: Baggie, Rees (g/k).