By Ross Millen (@rossmillen)
Poole Town managed to edge through to gain their first home win of the season, beating Weston Super Mare 3-1 at the Black Gold Stadium.
The Dolphins almost went behind early on after a poor clearance from the captain Jamie Whisken, which allowed the opposing skipper Dayle Grubb to have a shot at goal, which whisked just over the bar.
Only minutes later, Weston Super Mare appealed for a penalty but were instead handed a corner.
This lead to a Poole counter attack, which resulted in Matt Neale being taken down inside the box by Carl Petteger, this time a penalty was awarded.
Steve Devlin stepped up and slotted it into the bottom left corner to give the Dolphins an early advantage on 19 minutes.
Poole were reduced to 9 men last week against league leaders Dartford, after two players were sent off following a dispute and this almost happened again on 24 minutes.
Weston Super Mare defender Jacob Cane committed an unpleasant two footed challenge.
Both sets of players crowded around each other, with the Poole Town players incensed.
However, only one booking was distributed, a yellow card for the offender. He was lucky to stay on the pitch.
The first half saw Poole pile on a lot of pressure and sitting inside the opposition half the majority of the opening period.
This was rewarded just before the break as high press resulted in a mistake from Jason Pope. He misplaced a pass into the path of Warren Bentley who was left one-on-one with the keeper, and took the opportunity to slot it into the bottom left corner.
The game went into the break with Poole deservedly leading 2-0.
Poole could have made it 3-0 just after the restart, as a low cross from Jack Dickson on the right-hand side was blazed over the bar by Warren Bentley.
Besides that one chance, the Dolphins struggled to get out of their own half as the Seagulls boxed them in and dominated much of the second period, but wasted several opportunities.
In the 81st minute goal scorer Warren Bentley was substituted to allow for a home debut for on-loan forward, Jeremiah Gyebi.
Gyebi made an instant impact. Only six minutes after coming on, a through ball from midfield sent him one-on-one with the keeper.
He calmly placed it into the bottom right corner, leaving the keeper helpless and putting the game beyond Weston Super Mare.
The Seagulls did pull one back in injury time, as striker Gethyn Hill let loose from 20 yards out to find the top right corner, but it was nothing more than a consolation as the Dolphins claimed a pivotal 3-1 victory.
The result ends a dire streak of three games without a win and lifts Poole to within a point of Oxford City on 20 points and a point from safety.
Poole Town manager Tom Killick exclusively told the Bournemouth Rock after the game: “I thought the first half we were worthy of being in front.
“In the second half you could see how much was at stake in terms of the result being so vital to us.
“We had to withstand a lot of pressure, but our defence was immense.”
MAN OF THE MATCH: Lewis Lindsay
Poole Town FC: Hutchins, Lindsay, Moore, Spetch, Whisken (C), Petteger, Dickson, Devlin, Bentley, Bedford Neale
Weston Super Mare: Purwell, Harper, Greenslade, Cane, Pope, Smith, Lee, Diallo, Hill, No Grubb (C), Plummer
Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis
Attendance: 324