DEFEATED boss Tom Killick described as “cheap” claims by opposite number Alex Pike that Poole Town skipper Michael Walker had inspired Gosport Borough to promotion.

Killick’s men were stunned after Boro staged a dramatic late comeback to sink the Dolphins 3-1 in an absorbing Southern League Division One South & West play-off final at Tatnam yesterday.

Steve Claridge’s injury-time leveller cancelled out Marvin Brooks’s first-half opener before further goals from the veteran striker and Justin Bennett in extra-time won the day for Boro.

Pike, speaking during his post-match interview, claimed Walker’s comments in the build up to the clash suggesting Poole did not fear either Claridge or Bennett had spurred on his players.

However, Killick responded when he told the Daily Echo: “I think it is a bit cheap to mention that and I am sure their players weren’t thinking about it. They were just doing their best to try to get promoted in the same way our players were.

“They were 1-0 down and were always going to battle to the end. There would have been something wrong if a group of players going for promotion were 1-0 down and had thrown in the towel. It is easy to say that inspired them but I don’t really buy into that at all.

“Gosport were resilient, stayed in the game and made it messy. It wasn’t anything as a spectacle which suited them and not us. They got their rewards for their resilience by equalising and then, mentally, it was always going to be very difficult for us.”

Pike, who said winning the play-off with Boro had “eclipsed” lifting the FA Vase with Wimborne Town in 1992, told the media: “I have to go on record to thank Michael Walker. He did my job for me.

“He said he was going to keep Claridge and Bennett quiet all afternoon. I wonder who the goalscorers were and what the score was? It does my job for me when people go in the press and say things like that. I didn’t regard it as needle but it got that way. All we had to do was pin it up on the dressing room wall and I can only thank him.”

Pike added: “It is a horrible way to miss out and I am sure Poole will go one better next season by winning automatic promotion.

“To be honest, until we equalised, Poole had been the better team. They finished above us in the table and were the better team on the day. I was standing on the touchline thinking they deserved to go up and then the game was turned on its head. Once we equalised, we had the momentum.”