POOLE boss Tom Killick believes rejuvenated Dorchester have upped the ante in the battle for the county bragging rights.

The Dolphins tomorrow host the Magpies in an eagerly-awaited Southern League clash between two of the early-season Premier Division high-fliers (7.45pm).

Locked together on 17 points and with the same goal difference, third-placed Poole are ahead of Dorchester by virtue of having scored once more than their rivals in the first nine games.

Despite finishing 17th last season, Dorchester’s fortunes have been revived since Avenue favourite Mark Jermyn left Poole to take the reins in a player-manager capacity in January.

While the Magpies floundered in the lower reaches of the table last season, Poole slugged it out with Weymouth for county supremacy, eventually prevailing in that particular duel after finishing as runners-up before losing the play-off semi-final to St Neots.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “The way Dorchester have set themselves up and started the season has given these games an extra dimension. They are proper derbies with more than just local stuff at stake.

“As I see it, the reality is that they will be in the mix at the end of the season so there is an edge to the game from that point of view.

“There has been a lot of talk about Dorchester not being that strong financially but when you look at the squad they have assembled, they are clearly in quite a powerful position.

“I think it is great for the area. We had local and promotion rivalry with Weymouth last season and now it is the same with Dorchester.”

As an intriguing subplot, the contest will see brothers Michael and Nathan Walker line up on opposite sides, while ex-Dorchester star Jamie Gleeson will face his former club, as will Magpies’ Charlie Davis.

With Poole’s Michael Walker set to lock horns against his younger sibling, Killick is predicting a Walker brothers classic.

Killick said: “They are both powerful specimens. They are very close off the pitch, they see a lot of each other and speak regularly. But there is no love lost when they do battle on the pitch.

“They are very competitive and the type of characters who don’t hold back so it is always quite interesting to watch, albeit thankfully from afar from my point of view!”

Poole have doubts over the fitness of striker Richard Gillespie (back) and defender Will Spetch (knee) but ex-Dorchester midfielder Steve Devlin is expected to recover from a bout of sickness.