POPPIES boss Ken Vaughan had no regrets over adopting a defensive approach – despite suffering a 1-0 defeat at much-fancied Sholing on Friday.

After shipping six goals at Bemerton in midweek, Vaughan’s charges set out to frustrate the Boatmen without offering much in the final third at the Silverlake Arena.

But despite Poppies’ stoic resistance, a soft first-half penalty handed the hosts all three points in the Wessex Premier clash, with Bournemouth unable to carve out any clear-cut openings after the interval.

Lewis Burgis’s lunge on Barry Mason gave referee Colin Hubbard no choice but to point to the spot and journeyman Tyronne Bowers slotted home from 12 yards.

Poppies briefly threatened a late flourish when Sholing substitute James Taylor was dismissed with six minutes remaining, but home keeper Matt Brown was rarely troubled.

And although the visitors left empty-handed, Vaughan was pleased with his team’s performance.

He told the Daily Echo: “If we had set out our stall any other way, we could have got a hammering. We had a go in the last 20 minutes and it was nice to see them wasting time in the corners at the end.”

Poppies: Lillington, Ayrton, Jackson, Clarke, Bartlett, Andrews, Robinson (Pearce, 62), Corby, Warren, Burgis (Batchelor, 78), Phillips. Unused subs: Saadi, Turner.

  •  Hamworthy United continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-2 win over Bemerton.

Sam Pekun (2) and Lee Chudy were on the scoresheet, but the visitors fought back in the second half and were in the ascendency when Hammers defender Greg Horlock received a second yellow card with 15 minutes to go.

However, the hosts held out with boss Simon Browne hailing “a cracking performance” from his players.

Hammers: Knights, Biles, Holland, Saunders, Horlock, Claremont (Hester, 61), Lanahan, Stacey, Sturgess, Chudy (Ayling, 76), Pekun. Unused subs: Head, Shovelton, Bassiriki.