Poole Town vs Bracknell Town (Non League Day) – Match Preview
On a blustery Tuesday evening Poole Town took a point from struggling Yate Town to continue their push for a play-off place. Having taken an early lead, it looked like it was going to be a good night for the Dolphins. However, two quick strikes from the Bluebells gave them a 2-1 halftime lead. Poole showed much more intensity in the second half, and it was no surprise when Harvey Slade popped up to bring the scores level on 80 minutes. From then on, the match could have gone either way with Yate hitting the woodwork and Poole pressing at every opportunity.
So, that point leaves us in 4th place (P36 W19 D9 L8 66 points) with just six matches to play. The first of those will be at Tatnam this Saturday when we welcome the players, officials and supporters of Bracknell Town. We have taken 13 points from our last six home matches with four wins and a draw.
The reverse fixture was our second away fixture of the season in August, and what a cracker it was. We led at halftime through an IK Hill 36th minute strike. The second half produced a flurry of goals including a hattrick from who else but Shaq Gwengwe giving us a 4-3 win.
Bracknell Town come into the match on the back of an impressive 4-2 win over Dorchester Town at the Avenue Stadium last Saturday. It will be something of a stretch for them to make the play-offs as they sit in 11th place on 47 points, 13 points behind Chertsey who are in 5th. They are currently 4th in the away form table with 3 wins from their last 6 matches on the road, taking a total of 10 points from those games. They have picked up 6 points from their last six matches with wins at Hungerford and Dorchester.
The club has recently lost two of their top scorers. Reluctantly they had to let Seb Bowerman, who was on 12 goals for the season, sign for Farnham and Joe Grant, who was on 8, made the switch to Basingstoke Town. That leaves the very experienced Jack Mazzone currently on 14 goals and Jordan Esprit on 7 as their leading marksmen.
The Robins have moved quickly and have brought in Harry Murphy the 22-year-old attacking midfielder from QPR. He captained the QPR Development side to Premier League Cup success last season and was deservedly named their Player of the Season.
The club is managed by ex-player Carl Davies who returned for a second spell in charge in October 2025. In his first spell in charge, he guided the side to promotion from the Hellenic League as well as lifting the League Cup. When he took over, the Robins were bottom of the Southern League Premier Division South, but he has now turned their fortunes around and they are very formidable opponents for anyone in this league.
With just 6 matches to go, 3 home and 3 away Dolphin supporters will be hoping that we can turn some of these draws into wins. Our home form has been good, we have won four of the last six, Plymouth Parkway, Hungerford Town, Berkhamsted and Taunton Town, drawn one Yate Town and lost to Gloucester City.
Speaking to Connor Hannon after the game on Tuesday evening Pat and Joe said how pleased they were with the energy, character and commitment that was shown by the team at Lodge Road. They expressed their desire for the team to repeat that on Saturday and add more quality which on a better pitch, will give us every chance of taking the points. They said that four points from the two games would represent a positive outcome to the week.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington.