DORCHESTER TOWN 1 POOLE TOWN 3

THE Magpies turned in a below-par display at the Avenue tonight as they were knocked out of the Red Insure Cup by Poole.

Goals from Toby Holmes, Luke Stone and substitute Taylor Leonard did the damage for the Dolphins, whose win sent them through to the second round.

Unlike the visitors, Dorchester had plenty of experience in their starting line-up, with a place in the side for midfielder Ashley Nicholls, back for his third spell with the county town outfit.

Nicholls helped create an early chance for Jonah Ayunga but Poole keeper Tom Rees stuck out his left leg to deny the striker.

The Dolphins then broke downfield, Emil Salama sent in a cross from the right and Holmes slotted home at the far post to make it 1-0 with 10 minutes gone.

Dorchester looked to hit back straight away and Ayunga was again in thick of the action, robbing Joseph Huston-Hendy of possession before firing over.

Ayunga was proving a constant threat to Tom Killick’s men but it was the visitors who struck next on 32 minutes.

Stone picked up the ball just outside the Magpies’ area and took his time before curling a shot into the far corner of Walker- Harris’ net.

And Poole might have stretched their lead to 3-0 prior to the break.

Walker did well to block a Jamie Davidson stinger, Holmes’ flick was snared by Walker-Harris, and then the keeper saved Salama’s left-foot shot.

Holmes should have scored his second within five minutes of the restart, only for Walker-Harris to come out on top in a one-on-one with the forward.

The Dorchester stopper came to his side's rescue soon after with yet another stop to deny Holmes, who was then allowed to breeze past a couple of defenders before his close-range strike was turned away by that man Walker-Harris.

As he had done earlier in the half, Poole's Corby Moore went close with a free-kick, while at the other end substitute Charlie Davis did likewise for the hosts.

Davis gave Dorchester hope with a penalty in the 80th minute after Ben Watson had been brought down.

However, Leonard converted a Salama cross in time added on to put the result beyond doubt.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Crittenden, Martin, Jermyn (Dillon 73), Walker, Hanger, Irvine (Watson 46), Nicholls, Ayunga, Brookes (Davis 46), Tarbuck. Subs not used: Murphy, Ross.

Poole: Rees, Dickson, Buck, Moore, Huston-Hendy, Lindsay, Davis (Richardson 78), Davidson (Browning 68), Salama, Holmes, Stone (Leonard 73). Subs not used: Goodland.

Bookings: Magpies – Nicholls (foul, 44)

Poole – Davis (foul, 23), Davidson (throwing ball away, 40), Browning (obstruction, 77)

Referee: Ronald Ganfield (Weston-super-Mare)