POOLE Town assistant manager James Wood bemoaned a missed opportunity as the Dolphins slipped to a single goal defeat against play-off rivals Hungerford.

In a match of few chances, a controversial second-half strik proved decisive as Harry Goodger was credited for heading home Mattie Jack’s cross.

But the Hungerford striker appeared to have bundled into Nick Hutchings, causing the Dolphins keeper to spill the ball into the net.

Both sides offered little in the final third, with substitute James Pinder coming closest to an equaliser for Poole, but his injury-time shot was cleared off the line by visiting skipper Mattie Day.

Dolphins number two Wood felt the goal should have been disallowed, but refused to use the decision as an excuse.

“I do feel it was a foul on the keeper – there was definitely contact – but overall we pride ourselves on being quite strong defensively and it was something that we should have dealt with.

“It was disappointing. Without doubt it was a sloppy performance, there was no real drive about us and it was an opportunity missed.

“They then got 11 men behind the ball and worked hard. They had something to hold on to so you have to show quality and be brave on the ball to try to make things happen, but it just wasn’t there for us.

“Had we beaten Hungerford and won our game in hand tomorrow night, we could realistically have gone up to third, but in the grand scheme of things we’ve been on a good run and we just have to regroup now and try to push on tomorrow.

“It was a disappointment because we could really have established ourselves in that top five.”

A frustrating afternoon for the Dolphins was compounded by a first-half injury to defender Sam Clarke, who looks set to miss tomorrow’s clash with Taunton Town.

The injury adds to Poole’s defensive headaches, with loan star Rhys Baggridge returning to parent club Yeovil.

After initially signing Baggridge on a one-month deal, Dolphins could only use him for 93 days, which expires after the Taunton match.

Kevin Gill also starts a three-match ban on Saturday.

Wood insisted that the current squad at Tatnam could cope, with Lamin Dibba returning to full training and Keith Emmerson expected to be available again soon.

Wood added: “Rhys will be a big miss for us, but the squad is as strong as it has ever been. We’ve got quality there so we’ll just have to shuffle things around.”

Dolphins: Hutchings, Clarke (Gill, 45), Spetch, Baggridge, Walker, Howes, Brooks (Pinder, 54), Devlin, Joyce (Smith, 63), Preston, Cann. Unsued subs: Richardson, Skelton.