Poole Town 1 Marine 0

Pitching In Southern League Premier South | Tuesday 23rd January 2023

Posted by Keith Yeomans on January 25th 2024

`Match Report from Pete Crockett`

Marine lose to a late goal

At Marine’s level the margin in a tight game between lauded victory and heroic defeat can be paper thin. It can be the colour of a card the referee decides to brandish; the bounce of a ball off the inside of a post; or a moment of opportunistic finishing as legs tire.

This match, played in a howling gale, hinged on three key incidents!

The first was in the 55th minute when the referee decreed that an incident involving Marine’s Jake Andrews was worthy of a straight red card. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision the reaction of many around the ground was one of surprise. The very well-balanced home team match report interestingly observed that – “a straight red seemed a bit harsh.”

The second pivotal incident occurred in the final ten minutes when after some patient Marine passing Dave Sims-Burgess was played in on goal in what would have been, for more senior supporters, the old inside right position.

He entered the area and hit a shot towards the far post. It struck the inside of the post and then seemed to defy the laws of physics and bounce back into the field of play.

The third crucial moment occurred in injury time when Poole Town’s Tony-James Lee turned sharply in the box to fire the ball into the far corner of the net. It was a quality finish.

Whilst those were the crucial incidents both teams deserve immense credit for striving to play good passing football in a howling gale.

In the early stages of the first half Marine were on top and giving the host’s defence a torrid time. In the 7th minute a Jake Andrews free kick induced a good save from the home keeper. Levi Irving also had a goal bound shot well blocked by some courageous Poole Town defending.

Poole Town also had threatening moments. A Luke Pardoe effort went just wide of the post and an effort from Toby Holmes struck the post. Poole Town then had a series of half chances that were either spurned or blocked.

Early in the second half Poole Town’s Tony-James Lee was played though on goal but was foiled by an excellent save from Marine’s Conor Brann.

After the sending off Poole Town, with the extra player, unsurprisingly had the greater possession. However, apart from a Kaya Tshaka shot from distance and an effort from Destiny Ojo they struggled to create many clear-cut chances against a Marine team defending with discipline and tenacity.

As the final minutes approached Marine were battling to resist a tide of attacks and cruelly, from a Marine perspective, Tony-James Lee’s injury time finish deprived them of what would have been a meritorious away point.

The Poole Town match report aptly summed the outcome up when the writer stated that “Swindon will feel hard done by not to get a point but well done to Poole for their persistency.” From a Marine perspective that was a very fair summation. The host’s deserve credit for their determination to go to the end.

Whilst defeat should not detract from the courage and quality of Marine’s performance.

As the teams left the field of play both sets of players will know that the victors could easily have been the defeated and the defeated could easily have snatched a heroic victory.

The selection of a card colour; the bounce off a post; and a sharp injury time finish – fine margins indeed.

Marine manager Stuart Fleetwood appropriately summed up his team’s efforts when he observed that “my players were like warriors out there. I am so proud of the lads.” A pride that was very much shared by the travelling supporters.

Next up a local derby with Hungerford Town.

Come on Marine!

Editors Poole Star Man: Tony-James Lee
Editors Marine Star Men: Mat Liddiard
Attendance: 255

`Line Ups`

Poole Town
Manager: Matt Tubbs
Colours: Red & White Quarters
Line-up: 1. Lloyd Thomas 2. Declan Rose 5. Jamie Whisken (c) 6. Harvey Wright 16. Luke Pardoe (11. Destiny Ojo 70’) 9. Tony-James Lee 10. Toby Holmes (8. Kyran Samadi 90’) 14. Kaya Tshaka 19. Wes Fogden 15. Cameron Murray 18. Billy Lowes (7. Harvey Slade 70’)
Subs Not Used: 3. Harry Hutchinson 12. Luke Nippard
Goalscorers: Tony-James Lee 90+3’
Cards:
None Yellow Card
None Red Card
None Yellow & Red Card