TOM Killick believes Taunton’s plan to “smash it from back-to-front and play for set-pieces” proved “effective” as Poole Town fell to a 1-0 Southern League South home defeat.

The Peacocks are now five points ahead of Dolphins in fifth having played three games more, after Rocky Neal scrambled home from a corner to seal the spoils for the visitors on 74 minutes.

Defeat was Poole’s fourth loss in six games in all competitions.

Assessing the contest, Killick told the club website: “They (Taunton) do what they do and it’s effective.

“They just smash it from back-to-front and play for set-pieces and they scored from one.

“So fair play, that’s what they do and it works for them. We just try to do things slightly differently but we were on the wrong side of it.”

He added: “There didn’t seem much in the game really. I didn’t think there was that much to choose between the two sides.

“There were two different styles. We were trying to move the ball, they obviously go from back to front very quickly to the target man they have up there. Rocky Neal, who plays around him, is always effective.

“It was always going to be one goal that looked as if it was going to decide it. Unfortunately for us they got it.”

And Killick admitted lack of creative spark proved a disappointment in Dolphins’ display.

“When we got into the area where you have to have a bit of quality to create something, we were a bit lacking,” he said.

“That was the thing that disappointed me.”

Poole, who also handed a debut to Billy Maybury following his switch from Wimborne Town, are now seventh in the league table with 26 points from 13 games.

Dolphins: Cairney, Gleditsch (Maybury, 48), Jackson, Smeeton (Dennett, 78), Leslie-Smith, Carmichael, Dickson, Moore, Baker (Tavares, 64), Brooks, Holmes. Unused subs: Childs, Whisken.