Poole Town have responded in style to the weekend’s home defeat against Hungerford, thrashing 10-man Taunton 6-0 at Tatnam.
The Dolphins are now four points above sixth-placed North Leigh in the battle for the final play-off spot in the Evo-Stick League Southern Division One South & West.
Steve Devlin, Michael Walker, Dan Cann, Carl Preston, Rhys Baggridge and Scott Joyce were all on the score sheet in Tuesday’s win.
Poole started the brighter of the two sides and Taunton were in trouble after only 10 minutes.
Kevin Gill broke free only to be brought down by last-man Chris McGrath, who was swiftly given his marching orders by the referee.
It wasn’t long before Poole made their numerical advantage count, as Steve Devlin stepped up to convert the resulting free kick.
Dolphins continued to apply pressure after the opening goal, dominating possession and pinning Taunton into their own half.
After 21 minutes they doubled their advantage, Michael Walker tapping in at the far post.
John-Paul Tooth spoke to Poole manager Tom Killick after the game:
[FMP height=”360″]http://www.thebreaker.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Poole-vs-Taunton-Final1.mp4[/FMP]Taunton regrouped after the second goal and began to enjoy longer spells of possession, but looked vulnerable to Poole counterattacks as they poured men forward in an attempt to find a way into the game.
It was Poole who finished the half stronger though, forcing a goal-line clearance just before the interval.
And the home side carried this momentum into the second half, adding a third goal minutes after play had resumed, with Dan Cann slotting home after sloppy defending from Taunton.
Any hopes of a fightback were extinguished at 3-0, and it was not long before Poole had the ball in the back of the net once more, Carl Preston blasting into the top corner from close range.
Rhys Baggridge bid a fond farewell to the Dolphins in the 78th minute, making it 5-0 in his last appearance for the club after a three-month loan stint from Yeovil.
And Scott Joyce completed the rout with seconds to go, tapping into the empty net from a square ball inside the box to rub salt into Taunton’s wounds.
