A WAR of words erupted as both bosses blasted their opponents’ style of play after Verwood and Christchurch had battled out a derby-day draw.

Priory led when Dan Saul shrugged off a shirt pull in the penalty area to tee up James Burden for a 16th-minute opener in the Wessex Premier showdown.

But the visitors were left to rue missed chances as their first-half dominance was cancelled out by Mike Haskell’s opportunistic finish seven minutes before the break for Verwood.

The second half was a different story as the hosts piled on the pressure without finding the net, with Haskell and strike partner Jack Lovell failing to finish a hatful of presentable openings.

Christchurch nearly stole the points in injury time but their penalty appeals were waved away after Sam Purdy’s cross had hit Russell Dyer’s arm before Dan Blackburn snatched at his shot with the goal gaping.

With the spoils shared, talk turned to performances at the final whistle with the rival managers controversially pouring scorn on each other’s tactics.

Christchurch boss Michael Cuffie said: “It was very much a game of two halves but only one side played football.

“They (Verwood) bypassed the midfield and put us in trouble and while we should have been able to deal with that, there was only one footballing side out there.

“They should have been dead and buried in the first half and it was a definite penalty for handball at the end, but we will take the point. It was nice to stay unbeaten.”

And while opposite number Adie Arnold was furious with his team’s first-half performance, the Potterne Park chief hit back at Cuffie’s suggestion that the hosts had resorted to long ball tactics.

On Cuffie’s comments, Arnold said: “Our footballing views are obviously different. I would ask the neutrals, and one or two people in their club, whether that is what they are used to watching (from Christchurch).

"We tend to raise our game against quality sides, which is what we did against Christchurch last season.

“They have been spoiled with the way Kempy (former manager Graham Kemp) played, compared with what is being dished up now.

“We said to the lads at half-time that we would have been in trouble against a decent side and we were lucky to be playing the poorest Christchurch team I had seen for a number of years.”

Arnold added: “In the first half, we were shocking. We allowed Christchurch to dictate the play and they should have scored two or three.

"We got into the lads at half-time and they responded. We got the ball down and totally dominated the second half and there was only one team in it. We were disappointed to end up with a draw.”

Potters: Lynch, Evans, Homer, Oldring, Kelly, Dyer, Saxby, Webb, Haskell, Lovell, Hill. Unused subs: Elysee, Murray, Kimber, Gilham.

Priory: Frampton, Doe, Bernard, McGrath, Legg, Blackburn, Smith, Fairbrother (Hoey, 61), Saul, Purdy, Burden. Unused subs: Salazar, Frewin, Davis, Meyer.

  •  In Wessex One, Matt Dear, Rob Teppett and Sam Carter handed New Milton Town a 3-1 win at Stockbridge, while Tony Bellott scored in Ringwood’s 1-1 home draw against Amesbury.