Wimborne Town vs Poole Town – Match Preview
When the fixture list is published probably the very first match that we look for is the trip to the Wyatt Homes Stadium for the El Stourco derby. As we know that match will be our fixture between Christmas Day and the New Year and what a mouthwatering prospect is has turned out to be. Joe Lea described it as possibly the toughest of the seasons away fixtures. The Magpies set off the campaign at quite a pace, spending several weeks in the top six. Although they have dropped a little in recent weeks, they are currently in 8th place (P20 W8 D7 L5 31 points) and are more than capable of getting back up to the top six.
Their season has been built around a strong home performance which has seen them remain unbeaten to date with 6 wins and 4 draws from the ten matches played, they have scored in every one of those games. In their last three home fixtures they have played some of the leagues much fancied sides, Gosport 1-0, Gloucester City 2-2 and Sholing 1-1. They have dropped to 15th in the form table P6 W1 D3 L2 but as we know form doesn’t count for very much in local derbies. The attendances have been very good with a league average of 691.
The Magpies finished last season in a comfortable mid-table position in their first season at this level. We both won our home matches. We won 1-0 at the BlackGold in the August Bank holiday clash with a Charlie Davis strike and Wimborne won at the Wyatt Homes Stadium in February courtesy of a Jamie Whisken own goal.
As always, we can expect to see some familiar faces in the opposition dugout, Sam Jackson, Josh Carmichael, Sam Roberts and Will Fletcher have all worn the colours of the Dolphins in recent seasons.
Since joining the Magpies from Hamworthy United the popular manager Tim Sills has done a great deal to turn the club around and he has enjoyed much success. The ex-Poole High School teacher enjoyed a very successful playing career himself which started at Millwall and included spells at many other league and non-league clubs. He guided Wimborne to their first league title in 24 years in 2023/24.
Wimborne have had a number of injuries to cope with in the past few weeks which has forced them into the loan market, and they have brought in defender Tyler Edmunson from Bashley and keeper Bastian Smith from Peterborough.
We come into the match on the back of a very disappointing outcome to our home fixture with Sholing last Saturday. After failing to convert a number of chances in the first half we went into the break at 0-0. We were unable to bring that level of performance to the second half and lost to a Mason Byron header from a corner kick. It is not a match that will live long in the memory but as we know we quickly have the opportunity to put that behind us and move on. We are now in 4th place in the table (P22 W12 D5 L5 41points) but losing some ground on the top two.
Wimborne have issued guidelines regarding the segregation that will be in place for this match, and they have asked supporters of both clubs to arrive early to avoid congestion at the turnstiles.
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New year and let’s hope the Dolphins can put in a strong second half of the season to keep us challenging at the top.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington.