A game that was nothing short of extraordinary ended in Poole suffering a 5-4 defeat to Salisbury after leading the game 4-2. To make it even more heartbreaking for the Dolf, Tony Lee missed a decisive penalty in the 93rd minute meaning that Poole were left empty handed.
Matt Tubbs made three changes from the disappointing defeat to Tiverton on Saturday with Jamie Whisken, Billy Lowes and top scorer Tony Lee dropping to the bench. Harvey Slade, Kyran Samadi and Luke Nippard all came into the starting eleven.
Poole started the better team and looked a completely different side to the poor performance against Tiverton. Some free-flowing football and exquisite link up play led to Harvey Slade playing a precise through ball which found Kyran Samadi one on one with keeper and he finished excellently to give Poole an early lead on the 6th minute.
Kaya Tshaka and Luke Pardoe were linking up well down the left creating numerous chances, however their attempted crosses were unable to find anyone in the box.
The first big chance for the visitors came in the 20th minute when Noah Coppin flashed the ball across the goalmouth from a tight angle which narrowly missed the post.
Poole doubled their lead on the 36th minute after the exceptionally talented Kyran Samadi intercepted the ball on the halfway line and skilfully dribbled around three Salisbury defenders before calmly slotting it home for Poole’s second.
Completely against the run of play, Salisbury managed to get one back through Samuel Perry after he was completely unmarked at the back stick and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
Moments before half time, Poole regained their two-goal lead through the excellence of Luke Pardoe. His effort from the edge of the area found its way through the hands of the Salisbury keeper to give Poole a 3-1 lead at half time.
Early in the second half, on the 50th minute, it was the visitors who struck first through Charlie Gunson after Poole were caught on the counter.
Just two minutes later, Poole scored once again, this time through Toby Holmes who took advance of a miscalculation by the Salisbury defender and rounded the keeper to have an empty net to give Poole a 4-2 lead.
Poole looked in full control of the game and it looked like Matt Tubbs side were going to come away with all three points, right up until the 77th minute when Daniel Fitchett made it 4-3 and there were a few nervy faces around the BlackGold Stadium.
Poole Town fans worst fear became reality when the referee gave Salisbury a penalty in the 86th minute in which Noah Coppin converted from the spot to draw the teams level.
With the score tied at 4-4 the game really could have gone either way with Tony Lee hitting the bar from long distance.
As the clock ticked over to the 90th minute it was the visitors who took their chance and stole the game away from Poole Town with Noah Coppin making it 5-4 to Salisbury and surely securing the three points for the away side.
As the game looked like it was drifting away from Poole and time was running out, Toby Holmes was brought down by the keeper and the referee pointed to the spot for the second time in the game.
With Poole Town fans hearts in their mouth, up stepped talesman and penalty taker Tony Lee. The ground fell silent as Lee ran up to the ball with the intention of smashing it into the roof of the net.
However, to the delight of the away supporters, Lee smashed the ball over the bar and looked on to the despair of the Poole fans behind the goal.
The clock ticked on, and the referee blew for full time with Salisbury holding on to all three points.
Despite Poole dominating the game for 77 minutes, they came away with nothing, emphasising just how cruel football really can be. All in all, an eventful game down at Tatnam, one that will not be forgotten in the memory of the 606 fans that attended the game on a chilly Tuesday night at the BlackGold Stadium.
Next up for Poole is the third home game in a row as they face Hanwell Town FC on Saturday. Shoutout to the tremendous Poole Town fans who never stopped singing their hearts out all game.