BOSS Tom Killick breathed a sigh of relief after Will Spetch’s dramatic late equaliser kept Poole Town alive in the FA Trophy.

Dolphins had taken a 1-0 lead into the break at lower-division Brentwood Town thanks to a Marvin Brooks effort which went into the net via crossbar and post.

However, the hosts levelled moments after the restart through Kojo Apenteng and Poole’s task got tougher when Jake Smeeton was sent off for a second caution with half an hour remaining.

Tony Stokes appeared to have sent Brentwood into the third qualifying round with a fine strike from range but Spetch bundled home in stoppage time.

The teams will reconvene for a replay at Black Gold Stadium on Tuesday, with Poole’s League Challenge Cup clash with Wimborne Town set to be rescheduled for a later date.

Reflecting on a dramatic encounter in Essex, Killick told the Daily Echo: “We didn’t play very well. Brentwood were well organised and had an effective way of playing and we probably didn’t deserve to go into half-time in front.

“The most disappointing thing from our point of view was conceding a goal a minute into the second half. That was a significant moment.

“We had to play for half an hour with 10 men so against that background and taking into account that we scored with two or three minutes of added time remaining, we are quite relieved to still be in the competition.

“I thought Brentwood played well, caused a few problems and frustrated us quite a bit in terms of our attacking.

“They are in the lower reaches of the league below but I found with them and Horsham that they were better than some of the teams in our league.

“That’s what happens when you judge teams on one-off games. The type of performance Brentwood produced on Saturday is perhaps not the type of performance they have produced on a regular basis.

“We have to look at ourselves and we know we didn’t do very well and that’s why we are quite relieved to still be involved.”

Killick felt Smeeton’s dismissal had been a borderline call. The boss thought the first yellow card had been justifiable but questioned the validity of the second.

He said: “The first one I thought was definitely a caution. Once you are on a yellow card these days, it doesn’t take much to get another.

“You are walking a tightrope after one caution. We thought the second challenge was quite innocuous but, as you would expect, the other team called for a yellow straight away and the referee didn’t disappoint them.”

Should Poole win the replay, they will earn £4,000 in prize money and the opportunity to play for £5,000 in the next round.

Dolphins: Cairney, Alawode-Williams, Smeeton, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer (Leslie-Smith, 63), Griffin, Moore, House (Davis, 79), Brooks, Bedford (Scrimshaw, 58). Unused sub: Gillespie.