Taunton Town 1
Poole Town 1
Poole Town showed hallmarks of their early season form as they battled to a draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Taunton Town.
Dolphins welcomed the return of legend Steve Devlin to the club, but were without Luke Holmes and Bournemouth loanee Brooklyn Genesini.
Tommy Scott was called into a double-save early on when Jack Veale found acres of space at the back post.
Perhaps perturbed by just how much time he had, Veale sent both shots down the throat of Scott, who reacted quickly to close down the second shot and thwart the danger.
A hopeful free-kick also had to be dealt with by Scott, who dived low to his near post to push a bobbling effort out for a corner.
Despite the early pressure from the hosts Poole recovered well, getting the ball down and asking questions of Taunton’s three defenders at the back.
Whilst Taunton certainly were not out of the game, they found themselves a goal up slightly against the run of play. A bobbling effort drew another save out of Tommy Scott, but the custodian could not hold the shot, allowing it to be tapped home by Stearn.
Poole responded well, and came close when Luke Burbidge sent a close-range volley narrowly over the bar.
Dolphins went close again in the second half. Jack Dickson’s deflected shot sat up nicely for Lee, who managed to get a foot to the ball. Only a defender could deny Lee, with Richards well positioned to clear off the line and keep the scores level.
Lee would have an opportunity to open his account when Jack Dickson was knocked over in the box. He thumped home the penalty to restore parity.
The remainder of the game saw both sides probing whilst showing restraint, not quite sure whether to push for all three and settle for the one.
In the end that was the case – and the spoils shared for the second time between two good sides.
For Poole the result sees a second game unbeaten yet winless in four.
Taunton: Buse, Foulston, Adelsbury, Grimes, Chamberlain, Holmes, Guest, Stearn, Veale, Lewington, Richards
Unused subs: Irish, Hill, Hartley, Smith, Staley
Poole: Scott, Rose, Jackson, Spetch, Whisken, Bartlett, Carmichael (Wright 82′), Burbidge (Chipangura 86′), Lee, Davey (Devlin 90′), Dickson
Unused subs: Wickham, Mayo
All Poole Aren't We 