Poole Town vs Taunton Town – Match Preview
I think it’s fair to say that most Dolphin fans were quite relieved to come away from the Avenue Stadium with a point last Saturday. The last fifteen minutes became very uncomfortable for the away team, but we held on and we keep our focus firmly on those play-off places.
We are still right there with four home matches and five away games to come. We have dropped to fourth place (P33 W18 D8 L7 62 points) largely because Farnham who have three games in hand, beat Havant & Waterlooville 2-1 on Tuesday evening. Walton & Hersham continue to make the running on 76 points with Gloucester City in second place on 67 points. We have dropped to 10th place in the form table with 10 points from our last six matches.
We are back at Tatnam on Saturday and welcome Taunton Town who travelled to Chertsey in midweek and were beaten 3-1. They are currently down in 20th place (P33 W9 D6 L18 33 points). They have performed well at home, taking 20 points from 15 matches, but their away form has rather let them down with a return of 13 points from the 18 games played away from the Cygnet Heath Stadium. They sit at the bottom of the away form table as a result of losing their last six away matches. They have scored 49 goals, which is more than any of the 11 teams in the bottom half of the table but that hasn’t kept them away from the relegation zone.
In the reverse fixture at the Cygnet Heath Stadium in October, we put on a very impressive display and won 4-1 thanks to a second half hat-trick from Shaq Gwengwe and a first half equaliser from Harvey Slade.
After finishing in 9th place last season, I doubt that many expected The Peacocks to be languishing in the relegation zone this late in the campaign. In December 2025 the club brought in the very experienced Gary Johnson to steer the club away from what would be two relegations in three seasons. In English football, and across the Southwest in particular, Gary Johnson certainly needs no introduction. A managerial career spanning more than 30 years has seen him demonstrate exceptional leadership and achievement, including taking Yeovil Town from non-League football into the Championship, securing automatic promotion with Bristol City, and winning league titles at both Cheltenham Town and Torquay United.
Top scorer for the Peacocks is Ben Seymour who joined on a season-long loan from Torquay United. His pre-season form showed he’s among the best forwards in the division when firing. He spent the latter half of the 2024–25 season on loan at AFC Totton, helping the Stags earn their first-ever promotion to the National League South.
We will be looking to get back to winning ways after the defeat to Gloucester City and the draw at Dorchester. Shaq is still way out front in the league’s scoring charts on 35 and he’s opened up a gap on IK Hill who is our next marksman on 7 and Harvey Slade on 5.
The weather is forecast to be more settled at the weekend which should attract a large crowd. Come on down and support the lads as we enter the very exciting climax to a remarkable season.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington.