SCOTT Joyce tonight netted twice as Bournemouth Poppies continued to hold the Indian sign over Wessex Premier neighbours Hamworthy United.

Joyce’s brace, coupled with a Connor Phillips effort, earned Poppies a 3-1 win at the County Ground and saw them complete the double over their Dorset rivals.

Hammers paid a heavy price for squandering some presentable opportunities and for failing to test Poppies goalkeeper Nic Jones until the 88th minute.

Victory saw Poppies extend to 10 points the gap between themselves and Hammers, although neither club is likely to be singing from the rooftops about a mid-table finish.

Poppies, unbeaten by the Hammers in the league since December 2008, opened the scoring courtesy of a classic route-one move after 23 minutes.

Phillips profited after Hammers defender Steve Walker had misjudged Jones’s mule-like drop kick, the striker taking his tally for the season into double figures with an emphatic finish.

Hammers goalkeeper Andy Knights denied Phillips a second soon after but was powerless to prevent Poppies from doubling their lead after 32 minutes.

Phillips’s clever layoff following a cross from Martin Warren teed up Joyce and the Poppies skipper made no mistake as he buried his shot into the bottom corner.

Poppies were denied a third on the stroke of half-time when Warren’s headed effort was chalked off for a mysterious push by an eagle-eyed linesman.

Although Hammers created their fair share of chances, profligate finishing resulted in Jones being called upon to save for the first time from Dave Sturgess two minutes from time.

His volley was sandwiched between Carl Bradley and the lively Sam Pekun both missing the target before substitute Lee Chudy finally found the back of the net in the final minute.

However, Hammers’ hopes of a dramatic comeback were dashed just seconds later when Joyce’s speculative effort appeared to catch Knights cold as it sailed past the goalkeeper to complete the scoring.

Hammers: Knights, Head, Hester, Walker (Wyatt, 61), Ayling, Sturgess, Murray, Lanahan, Shovelton (Chudy, 73), Pekun, Carlile (Bradley, 54). Unused subs: Penny, Tong (g/k).

Poppies: Jones, Ayrton, Jackson, Ward, Batchelor, Lockyer, Corby, Phillipson-Masters, Joyce, Warren, Phillips. Unused subs: Clarke, Watt, Turner, Molyneaux, Vaughan (g/k).

  • Elliot Peck scored twice as a youthful Ringwood Town side enhanced their Wessex Division One record with an impressive 5-3 away victory over United Services Portsmouth. Indrit Elezi, Matt Steer and Nick White were also on target for the victors in the eight-goal thriller.

Ringwood: Page, Rolls, Hardiman, Osman, Bailey, Elezi, L Taylor, Steer, Peck, Rodriguez (Brookes, 67), White.