BOSS Tom Killick shouldered the blame for Whitehawk’s leveller as Poole Town missed the opportunity to escape the bottom three in National South last night.

Dolphins were left to settle for a 1-1 draw against the relegated Hawks after Nathaniel Pinney’s breakaway goal had cancelled out Steve Devlin’s 16th-minute free-kick.

Striker Pinney fired home on 74 minutes after the visitors had charged forward following a Poole corner.

Killick’s men had been out of the drop zone before Whitehawk equalised with relegation rivals Hungerford Town losing 1-0 at Concord Rangers.

But with Dolphins only recording a point, their destiny is out of their hands as they head into the final game of the season.

Asked about the equaliser, Killick told the Daily Echo: “There are mixed emotions but, clearly, as it panned out, I made a mistake.

“I was asked the question by Jamie Whisken of ‘do we want to deal with it as a normal corner?’ in terms of the two centre-halves going up.

“I felt it was the right thing to do because there was a lot of time left in the game and we felt we needed to stay positive to try to get the second goal.

“We had four defenders back against three attackers but the ball was half cleared and Ollie Balmer had to go and look to return it to the box.

“He was one of our four defenders so, when they broke, there was a three-against-three.

“With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had never sent the two centre-halves forward. But if you start getting negative and trying to hold on to a lead and suddenly they scrape a goal, you are full of regret for being so passive.”

He added: “My overriding emotion was frustration because I felt there was a really big opportunity for us to win the game.

“In the first half, we controlled things and, in the second, although they had chances where we started committing men forward, we had enough possession in good areas and opportunities to have won comfortably.”

Pinney’s goal left Poole a point behind Hungerford heading into Saturday’s season finale.

Killick’s men must beat Oxford City and hope Hungerford slip up at East Thurrock.

The Dolphins boss also gave his take on a bizarre sending off for Whitehawk’s Osa Obamwonyi who reacted angrily after being substituted at Black Gold Stadium, kicking the dugout and pushing away members of the Whitehawk staff.

“He just seemed very upset. Whether someone had told him the showers were cold or something had happened I don’t know,” added Killick.

“I said to their manager he was a brave man for taking him off. If he’s going to react like that I’d leave him on I think!

“It was unfortunate for us he didn’t kick off when he was on the pitch but he waited until he got in the dugout.

“I have seen that sort of thing happen in Sunday football but never at this level.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Moore, Smeeton, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer (Walker, 89), Balmer, Devlin, Constable, Brooks, Bentley. Unused subs: Alawode-Williams, Leslie-Smith, Gillespie, Rees (g/k).