DORCHESTER TOWN 3

Moss 37, Dickenson 52, Devlin 55

POOLE TOWN 2

Brooks 90+1, Joyce 90+3

DORCHESTER Town survived a late scare to move a step closer to retaining the Dorset Senior Cup last night.

Ryan Moss, Ben Dickenson and Steve Devlin put the higher-ranked Magpies in complete control at the Avenue Stadium.

Poole Town refused to wave the white flag and struck twice in injury-time but it was too little, too late.

With newly-appointed boss Alan Knight working his last shift at Havant & Waterlooville, Phil Simkin and Mark Jermyn maintained dugout duties for the quarter-final tie.

Speaking afterwards, Simkin said: “We want to win every game we play in and I thought we did it with a bit of style at times.

“Their second goal was as big a foul on the keeper as I’ve seen in my life but that doesn’t take away the fact we took our foot off the gas.

“Fair play to Poole they kept going, but we’re delighted to win the game and move on towards the final.”

Despite making four changes, the Magpies named a strong line-up.

And given their two-tier superiority, it was no surprise to see the hosts enjoy the majority of possession. However, chances were few and far between early on.

The first real flashpoint in the game almost saw both sides reduced to 10 men as home skipper Nathan Walker and former Magpie Taffy Richardson went head-to-head – quite literally.

Poole-based referee Adrian Tranter took a lenient view and dished out a yellow apiece.

Nathan’s older brother Michael, donning the armband for the away side, then headed over from a corner before Jamie Symes curled an effort just wide of the left-hand post.

Dickenson fired over from an inviting 25-yard free-kick but made amends in the 37th minute by playing a major role in the opening goal.

After good build-up play from the back, Dickenson turned his man and picked out Symes, who in turn crossed for Moss to guide the ball home.

Parity was almost restored within five minutes but thankfully for the hosts, a fine overhead kick from 44-year-old Richardson was expertly tipped over by Alan Walker-Harris.

The Magpies extended their lead seven minutes into the second half, Moss racing down the right before cutting the ball back for Dickenson to side-foot home.

And it was 3-0 shortly after with Devlin unleashing an unstoppable volley into the far corner.

That superb strike looked to have killed off any hopes of a Poole comeback but the visitors weren’t going down without a fight.

And after substitute Tom Jeffes rattled a post, the Dolphins reduced the deficit in stoppage time when Marvin Brooks lashed home from a Mickey Hubbard corner.

Nerves began to twitch as Scott Joyce added a second shortly after, despite a blatant foul on Walker-Harris, but time was always against the Evo-Stik Division One S&W outfit.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Bell, Smeeton, Dovell, N Walker, Gleeson (Crittenden 80), Symes, Nicholls, Moss, Dickenson (Martin 61), Devlin. Subs not used: Jermyn, Austin, Taylor.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Clarke, Spetch, Brooks, M Walker (Hubbard 62), Skelton (Gill 46), Herbert (Jeffes 46), Richardson, Joyce, Smith, Cann. Sub not used: Tong.

Booked: Magpies – N Walker, Dickenson; Dolphins – Richardson, Cann, Clarke