MANAGER Tom Killick admitted to having had mixed feelings following Poole Town’s 0-0 draw with high-fliers Thatcham at Waterside Park.

The Dolphins, bidding for a fourth successive win, failed to find a way through after the hosts had been reduced to 10 men following the second-half dismissal of Mark Hughes.

A series of presentable chances went begging after Hughes had been sent off for collecting a second yellow card, with Poole drawing a blank in pursuit of avenging a 3-2 defeat by the Kingfishers in August.

Killick said: “Until they had a man sent off, it had been fairly even, although we probably had the better chances. It was one-way traffic after the red card, but we couldn’t manage to convert any of the opportunities we created.

“It was the classic scenario where, on the face of it, you would say it was a decent result for us but, with the way the game panned out, we were disappointed we didn’t win because we dominated after they had gone down to 10 men.”

A share of the spoils left Poole just five points shy of the play-off places, a gap they will be looking to narrow when they host seventh-placed Cinderford Town at Tatnam tomorrow (7.45pm).

Killick added: “Thatcham are one of the better teams in the division and they outplayed us at the start of the season.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Gill, P Smith, Baggridge, Walker, Howes, Brooks (Joyce, 75), Hubbard (Emmerson, 65), Spetch, Preston, Cann (S Smith, 80). Unused subs: Skelton, Richardson.