Poole Town 2 Redditch United 1

REDDITCH United were left to rue what might have been as their run of five successive league wins ended with a 2-1 defeat at Poole Town.

The loss was only the second inflicted on Liam McDonald’s men this season and owed much to the heroics of Dolphins keeper Nick Hutchings who produced a string of impressive saves to frustrate the visitors.

George Carline was the first to be denied with just three minutes on the clock as his header from Jamey Osborne’s corner was turned around the post.

It remained one-way traffic as the Reds dominated the early exchanges with Hutchings called into action again to block Daniel Dubidat’s shot.

The home side began to assert themselves and were awarded a penalty on 34 minutes when Reds keeper Jose Veiga tripped striker Luke Roberts, although any contact looked minimal.

Veiga almost made amends by tipping the spot kick onto the post but the rebound fell kindly for penalty-taker Steve Devlin who made no mistake at the second attempt.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Reds as a counter-attack and cross from the right was pounced on by Corby Moore who netted from close range.

But the visitors halved the deficit two minutes after the break with Carline heading home Osborne’s corner.

In only seemed a matter of time before United would draw level but Hutchings thwarted Carline and substitute Troy Baker in quick succession.

James Mutton went agonisingly close to an equaliser but somehow contrived to head over the bar from four yards out as Poole held on to move up to third in the table.

Reds: Veiga 7, Ashmore 6, Flanagan 7, Loveridge 7 (Westbrook 75), Mutton 7, Richards 7, Molyneux 7, Osborne 7, Dubidat 6, CARLINE 8, Shearer 4 (Baker 46, 7). Subs not used: Cullinane-Liburd, Swan, Bridgwater.