IT was a year Alex Pike and Tom Killick will always remember fondly, but a year Poole Town supporters will always want to forget.

In 1992, Pike celebrated his first full year in senior management by famously guiding Wimborne Town to FA Vase glory at Wembley.

Killick netted twice in the Magpies’ 5-3 win over Guiseley beneath the Twin Towers and was also crowned non-league player of the year.

Poole, meanwhile, who had been Southern League powerhouses, were slipping out of the Premier Division, a demotion which heralded the start of their demise.

Forced out of Poole Stadium in 1994, Poole eventually lost their place in the Southern League when they mustered a solitary point and conceded 188 goals in 1996.

Although the return journey has often been a rocky road, Poole reclaimed their place after completing a hat-trick of Sydenhams Wessex League titles 12 months ago.

And following an absence of 20 years, the Dolphins were presented with the opportunity to return to the top flight of the Southern League by booking a place in the Division One South & West play-off final.

Co-incidentally, the showdown threw up the intriguing prospect of Killick and Pike pitting their wits in the respective dugouts of Poole and Gosport Borough.

For 90 minutes of yesterday’s enthralling contest, it seemed as if the apprentice would conquer the master after Marvin Brooks had given Poole a first-half lead.

Poole’s exile in the lower leagues and 20 years of hurt appeared destined to end in fairytale fashion following just one season back in the Southern League.

However, while Poole had been plumbing the depths in 1996, Steve Claridge had been scoring a dramatic play-off winning goal to fire Leicester City into the Premier League at the expense of Crystal Palace.

At 46, the veteran striker and BBC TV pundit penned the next chapter to his Tales From The Boot Camps when he came off the bench to spark a Gosport revival – and to break Poole hearts.

Claridge made Poole pay for some first-half profligacy and some second-half naivety when he rolled home a dramatic equaliser to force the clash into extra-time.

And after the league’s leading goalscorer Justin Bennett had showed his class to register his 42nd goal of the season, Claridge rounded off the comeback with his second and Boro’s third.

For Poole, it was a sickening end to what had been an out standing first campaign at step four, with Gosport – Wessex League champions in 2007 – tasting success at the fifth attempt.

However, the achievement of finishing second in the table and having lost just two of their final 19 league games will have been scant consolation for Killick and his men after this agonising defeat.

They should have taken the lead after seven minutes when Brooks’s unopposed header from a Steve Devlin centre crashed against the advertising hoardings behind the Boro goal.

Equally, they could have gone behind when Bennett’s venomous strike rattled the inside of Nick Hutchings’s right-hand post before the ball was gathered by the Poole stopper after 15 minutes.

Brooks atoned for his earlier miss when he caressed a delightful right-foot volley into the bottom corner following another arrow-like assist from the impressive Devlin.

While the interval lead was no more than Poole had deserved, the hosts were made to pay for failing to increase their lead when Claridge showed his predatory instincts with virtually the last kick of normal time.

Understandably deflated, Poole were unable to stem the tide as Bennett and Claridge netted to effectively put the tie beyond them within six minutes of the start of extra-time.

Bennett showed Michael Walker a clean pair of heels before finishing with aplomb to make it 2-1, while Claridge profited after his tame effort had squirmed through the grasp of Hutchings.

“I thought we were a bit naive throughout the game,” conceded Killick. “We didn’t retain the ball well enough when we were in front, we gave away silly free-kicks and kept getting caught offside.

“They were mistakes we managed to get away with against Hungerford in the semi-final but we weren’t so lucky today.”