THREADBARE Poole Town slumped to a 3-0 defeat away at Southern Premier South basement dwellers Kings Langley, with stand-in manager Micky Hubbard refusing to make excuses despite the extenuating circumstances.

With boss Tom Killick unavailable and captain Jamie Whisken missing due to a groin injury, Hubbard then had star striker Tony Lee drop out at the last minute due to illness.

Things did not get much better on the pitch, with Dolphins falling behind in the opening minute. Poole cheaply gave the ball away before failing to close down Alfie Williams, who took his time to fire home from 20 yards.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Hubbard stated: “It was a difficult day, but I don’t want to make excuses. A lot of things have happened and not gone our way, and we’ve carried it onto the pitch.

“Everyone was sort of feeling sorry for themselves, when really, we had more than enough out there to deal with what was going on.

“We started off bad – when you start off like that, you’re up against it and it’s an uphill climb from there.

“Unfortunately, we never really recovered from that.”

Despite the early setback, Poole showed signs of recovery – but any hopes of a straightforward comeback were cut down when stalwart midfielder Corby Moore received his marching orders for appearing to stamp on an opposing player.

Poole again shot themselves in the foot in the second half, when a mix-up between Will Spetch and Mark Childs allowed Arel Amu to tap home into an empty net just after the hour mark.

“Obviously the red card doesn’t help matters. I felt we were getting on top, and then suddenly we’re down to 10 men,” said Hubbard.

“I felt we were on top with 10 men in the second half, and then (Mark) Childs makes as a mistake, which was uncharacteristic.

“Two people who we rely on made mistakes, and that cost us. Corby and Childsy, they’re two of our most reliable players, but it was a bad day at the office all around.”

In the final stages full-back Jamie Wood made it three after dancing past the Dolphins defence, rubbing salt in the wounds of an already disheartened Poole side.