Hubbard confident in Dolphins title bid (From Bournemouth Echo)

Hubbard confident in Dolphins title bid

6:58pm Sunday 21st March 2010 in

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MIDFIELD maestro Micky Hubbard struck a fortuitous equaliser for title favourites Poole Town and then insisted: “It is ours to lose now.”

The former Cherries trainee hit a long-range leveller after the break to cancel out Zach Glasspool’s first-half effort in a 1-1 draw at mid-table Winchester City.

Glasspool scored the game’s opener but finished the match in goal after the hosts’ keeper was stretchered off with a leg injury, sustained on the stroke of half-time when making a clearance.

The stand-in stopper then made a mess of Hubbard’s 20-yard drive and could not prevent the strike from earning Dolphins a draw, a result which took the reigning champions two points clear of arch-rivals Wimborne Town, with two games in hand.

As Magpies’ game at Alresford was postponed due to the wet weather, Poole missed a glorious opportunity to open up a sizeable lead on the Cuthbury outfit.

But when asked about his team’s pursuit of a second consecutive championship, Hubbard remained in confident mood.

He said: “I think we will win it – we have got too good a squad not to win it.

“As long as everyone stays fit and focused, I think we should win it. It’s ours to lose now.

“We have got a difficult run-in but that is what football is about.”

Playmaker Hubbard, who now has five league goals to his name this season, added: “We weren’t at our best but it is hard when you are playing on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

“We didn’t really test the goalkeeper and should have had more shots.

“We have got a hard run-in but we have got to keep plugging away.”

Dolphins boss Tom Killick felt his team were not at their creative best as Winchester made it difficult for the visitors.

He said: “I thought we lacked imagination and guile in the final third.

“Looking at the Winchester team we were up against – without being disrespectful – I was disappointed to come away with a draw.

“I think we’ll face sterner tests than that this season. It was probably just one of those games where we weren’t as fluent as we could’ve been.”

Poole Town: Jones, Poore, Lloyd (Dibba, 85), Walker, Whitley, Gill (Cook, 85), Hubbard, Sturgess, Preston, Gates (S Smith, 65), Brown. Unused subs: Dovell, Richardson.