LAMIN Dibba's first-half header was enough to give Bournemouth Poppies a slender advantage after a hard-fought first leg of the Sydenhams Wessex League Cup semi-final.

The giant Poppies defender struck 12 minutes before the interval as he reacted quickly to a Gary Langrish corner to nod home James Baker's attempted headed clearance for the only goal of the game.

Although Tom McCormick was on sentry duty on the far post, he was wrong-footed by the pinball in front of him and Poppies had a fortuitous lead.

Prior to the breakthrough, it had been Wimborne who were in the ascendancy, shrugging off Saturday's crushing disappointment of their FA Vase quarter-final exit with some slick attacking play that just lacked the killer final ball.

But Poppies were indebted to a terrific reaction save from Jason Harvell after great work from Scott Joyce had carved out an opening for Gareth Barnes to power a far post header at goal.

Ben Thomson should really have dragged the Magpies level soon after Dibba's opener, when his effort fizzed wide of the upright with the Poppies defence at full stretch following more enterprising work from Joyce against his former club.

But as thunder, lightning and torrential rain arrived after the break and the Victoria Park pitch turned into a quagmire, Poppies' defence was equal to anything that Wimborne could muster, with Harvell rarely called upon to make any significant contribution.

In fact, the closest Wimborne came to an equaliser was a fierce inswinging injury-time corner from substitute Chris Kennedy that almost flew straight in, only to rattle the crossbar.

Delighted Poppies boss James Wood said: "I would have taken a 1-0 win before the game, so I have to be very pleased with the result.

"We respected Wimborne, matched their formation and I thought we were good value for the win.

"We rode our luck at times, but defended well when we had to. And I always thought we had a chance from set-pieces."

Wimborne counterpart Paul Arnold said: "I thought we worked hard, but I didn't think people were brave enough on the ball again. We certainly didn't create an awful lot.

"To create chances, you need people to take responsibility and get on the ball.

"For some reason, it just didn't happen for us again.

"Of course, we're still in the tie. We need to score twice at home, but we're more than capable of doing that."

The second leg is scheduled for Cuthbury on March 20.

LINE-UP

Poppies: Harvell, Cuglietta, Dibba, Briscoe, Constable, Langrish, Dancer, Sanderson, Bailey-Pearce, Swann, Phillips. Unused subs: Merritt, McCabe, M Toy, C Toy, Ackerman.

Wimborne: Kearn, Baker (Griffiths, 81), Roast, Percival, Cannie (Whitcher, 88), Arnold, McCormick, Warren, Thomson (Kennedy, 67), Barnes, Joyce. Unused subs: Bentley, Langrish.