We go again........to Dorchester, for the re-arranged game against Winchester City, let's hope they have put 50p in the meter and the floodlights at The Avenue stay on for the entire match this time!
The Dolphins (17th) are starting to hit must win territory now as a defeat to The Citizens (10th) could see Poole drop into the bottom 3 with only 4 games remaining, should results elsewhere not go our way. Winchester travel to Dorch off the back of a 1-0 win over Hungerford although their play-off hopes have stuttered recently as that was their first win in 5, since their (checks notes - gulp) 4-0 win over Poole in mid-March.
Both Tiverton and Hanwell play Dorchester I. The last few matches. Dorchester are unbeaten in their last 6 games, drawing only one. On form they should both be wins for Dorch. How ironic if those two games helped keep us up. Of course then the conspiracy theories kick in if they lose both games.
At around 6pm my confidence levels shot through the roof when I saw the champion-elect, ellisgs, seeking three correct scores in a row, go for a 2-0 win, as a result from the Dolphins is desperately needed and well overdue (as in 2024 there have only been three victories to celebrate, and one of those was in the DSC, a competition from which we subsequently withdrew).
In total half of our predictors opted for a win with six different scores in that category (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-2, 4-1) but within seven minutes our predictor extraordinaire, was, along with five others, out of the running for a nine-pointer as Poole conceded. Eight minutes later and another five predictors were left in the knowledge that it wouldn't be a maximum night, as Toby scored from the spot.
Sitting all square at half time left Mick the Bick and Bearwoodbob on tenterhooks as they had gone for one-a-piece, but neither of those could surely be that upset when Toby struck again as the game's most popular prediction, 2-1 became the score-line with about one quarter of the game remaining. A quarter in which the Dolphins held on for and gain that much needed victory and for the 4th time this season 2-1 was a game verdict making our five winners - Southdorsetblue, jamesm, uptonogood, rob bayston, dolphin82, bilko - part of the total of 14 nine point yields for such a score.
6 x All Correct entry [Poole W2-1] - 9 points:- Southdorsetblue, jamesm, uptonogood, rob bayston, dolphin82, bilko (2-1) 2 x Correct Outcome [W] and Correct Poole [2] and Incorrect Opponents [1] - 5 points:- expat, ellisgs (2-0) 1 x Correct Outcome [W] and Correct Poole [2] and Incorrect Opponents [1] - 5 points:- ashleyleppington96 (4-1) 4 x Correct Outcome [W] only - 3 points:- peptalk, peterlep (1-0), Choirboy Dave (3-0), scotydolphin (3-2) 1 x Correct Poole [2] only - 3 points:- WelshDolphin (2-2) 3 x Correct Opponents Score [1] only - 3 points ballboy (0-1), Mick the Bick, bearwoodbob (1-1) 9 x Entry Point - 1 point canforddolphin (0-0), parky64, overs65, davidharfield44 (0-2), laserdad, ursula, DorsetDolphin (1-2), bramley, Astro (1-3)
Great performance & a fantastic result! Keep those levels up until the end of the season & we'll be fine, no problems at all. Got to thank Dorchester for letting us use their facilities..... although I imagine we paid for the privilege. The last 2 games we've looked so much better on a decent playing surface, really suits our passing style. Must mention the fantastic support too 'The Dolph are staying up, Don't you know, Pump it up!'. COYD!
Good fighting performance. Though it could still have gone either way - Max had to make a few good saves. Those who think relegation might be good or even worse want it because of what happened earlier in the season, I think it would be disastrous. Even after a very good season Wimborne aren't guaranteed to come top, and it's their second season in Division One. Poole need to survive and then re-build.