BOSS Lee Bradbury tonight presided over a bitter-sweet pre-season friendly encounter as Cherries turned in a Jekyll-and-Hyde showing at Poole Town.

Bradbury’s men were put to the sword during a below-par first half as the newly-promoted Southern League Dolphins made hay to race into a 3-0 interval lead.

But after both teams had made sweeping changes at the break, a vastly-improved second-half performance saw Cherries restore some respectability to proceedings.

Bradbury said: “Poole really put themselves about and made it difficult for us in the first half. I didn’t think our decision-making was very good. I was disappointed with the first-half display and told the lads as much.

“At half-time, I spoke to the second team that came out and thought they put on a really good display, albeit against not as strong a Poole side because they had made a lot of changes as well.

“It was a classic game of two halves and it was a good exercise. Poole always give us a run for our money and make it hard for us.

“We weren’t at it enough in the first half. They didn’t put themselves about as much as I would have liked, didn’t close them down and didn’t try to do the right things in the right areas. But that’s what pre-season is for and I am not going to judge them too harshly on it.

“It was exactly the opposite in the second half. The lads did the right things in the right areas, they played, worked hard and were more creative. We also scored some good goals.”

Cherries were on the back foot after just five minutes when ex-Dean Court apprentice Dan Cann profited from a defensive mix-up to net the opener.

And Will Spetch capitalised on more ponderous defending when he nipped in to head home Micky Hubbard’s free-kick to make it 2-0 in the 12th minute.

Two efforts from Michael Symes flew wide, while the contest briefly threatened to boil over due to some robust tackling from both teams.

Spetch was on hand to drill home his second and Poole’s third after Cherries had failed to deal with a Hubbard corner after 30 minutes.

A rare Cherries break ended with Marc Pugh’s effort drifting wide before Carl Preston, who was being watched by Exeter, saw his thunderous drive narrowly clear the crossbar.

Cherries’ trialist goalkeeper Callum Williams from Wigan got down smartly at his near post to save from Tom Price, while Harry Arter’s volley flashed wide on the stroke of half-time.

It was a different story after the break with a much-changed Cherries side turning on the style to restore parity within 16 minutes of the re-start.

Lyle Taylor lit up Tatnam by scoring the goal of the night, his sublime left-foot volley leaving Dolphins goalkeeper Nic Jones clutching at Dorset air as it whistled into the top corner.

Danny Ings latched on to a scuffed shot from Steven Gregory to neatly side-foot Cherries’ second before turning provider for Mark Molesley to rifle home the equaliser.

Jones’s top-drawer double save denied both Gregory and Ings, the latter following up to balloon the loose ball over the crossbar.

Trialist Sofiane Choubani netted with his first touch after coming off the bench, the skilful Frenchman finishing with aplomb to make it 4-3 with 10 minutes remaining.

However, the Dolphins claimed a deserved draw when Scott Joyce seized on a stray pass from Tim Stephenson before threading a shot past Williams eight minutes from time.

Bradbury confirmed several players, including Shaun Cooper and Steve Lovell, had sat out the clash as a precaution.

He also said trialists Choubani, Williams, Jordace Holder-Spooner and Ivan Forbes would remain with Cherries at least until after they had played Wimborne Town on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bradbury also confirmed he was still waiting to hear whether Charlton defender Simon Francis had accepted personal terms put to him by Cherries.

A final decision was expected to be made ahead of Cherries’ involvement in the EC Group Cup, with Bradbury hinting he would draft in another possible defensive target should the Francis deal collapse.

Bradbury has so far politely declined to comment on the possibility of Wolves left-back Scott Malone joining Cherries, even though the player has made a number of subtle references to the fact he could be on his way to the Seward Stadium on Twitter, the social networking site.

• Cherries first half: Williams, Baudry, Cummings, Nelson, Strugnell, Robinson, Arter, Pugh, Symes, Parsons, Stockley.

• Cherries second half: Williams, Purches, Barrett, Stephenson, Hester, Holder-Spooner (Choubani, 79), Molesley, Gregory, Feeney, Ings (Forbes, 79), Taylor.

• Poole: Hutchings, Yelland, Spetch, Dibba, Walker, Sturgess, Price, Hubbard, Jeffes, Preston, Cann.