DORCHESTER boss Mark Jermyn has admitted that the club were powerless to stop Jamie Gleeson from joining Poole after a decade at the Avenue.

The 30-year-old midfielder signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins yesterday despite the Magpies’ best efforts to retain his services for another season.

Gleeson arrived in the county town from Kidderminster Harriers before the start of the 2005/06 campaign and went on to make 381 appearances in a Dorchester shirt.

Jermyn had been hoping that the David Beckham look-a-like would follow the likes of Jake Smeeton and Chris Dillon in penning a fresh Magpies deal.

However, when he learnt of the offer Poole had made Gleeson, the player-manager realised he was going to be fighting a losing battle.

“I spoke to Jamie a couple of weeks ago and he told me what Poole had offered him,” said Jermyn. “We just couldn’t compete with their offer.

“We were in talks with him but when he got that offer it was taken out of our hands pretty quickly. There was never going to be any way we could have retained him.

“Glees had been at Dorchester for nearly 10 years and he was a great servant to the club.

“He is a likeable guy and I think he will be missed by the players, staff and supporters, there are no two ways about it.

“I’m not going to lie and say he is easy to replace because he isn’t, and Glees had some great times at Dorchester.

“He also had a few low times with the club in recent years but I don’t believe they were the catalyst for him to leave. He was offered such a good deal by Poole that he decided to go.

“But, like when I left before, things have to move on and the team will be built around different people.

“We knew Glees was going so that’s why we signed players like Neil Martin and Charlie Davis, and we’ve got others lined up as well.”

He went on to add: “Hopefully it won’t be the last we see of Glees, but we’ll look forward to playing against him next season.”