Poole Town were pushed aside in a 2-0 defeat to Taunton Town after goalkeeper Cameron Plain was shown a straight red in the first half.

Manager Steve Tully made one change from the 6-1 defeat to Merthyr Town last Saturday as Christos Batzelis was brought into the starting lineup.

The match got underway at Wordsworth Drive with both sides testing eachother out early on.

Dario De Luca had the best chance for the Dolphins in the first half, however, his shot was unable to trouble the Taunton number one.

The referee made a decisive call on the 24^th minute as Poole goalkeeper Cam Plain was shown a straight red card for throwing a Taunton player down to the ground.

Poole captain Jamie Whisken took it upon himself to don the gloves and go between the sticks.

Only moments after the red card, the hosts took the lead through Jack Rice on his debut who fired low into the corner.

It didn’t take long for the Peacocks to double their lead as Jacob Hodgson made it two on the 36^th minute.

The half came to a close with the hosts in a commanding position.

The second 45 got underway with a change of goalkeeper for Poole as defender Josh Staunton went between the sticks and Captain Jamie Whisken slotted back into defence.

A valiant second half performance from the Dolphins who looked on top for spells, despite being down to ten.

Charlie Davis and Rafa Ramos were introduced as Poole attempted to rescue something from the game.

Taunton went close late on to putting the game to bed but were denied by the linesman’s flag.

The match came to a close with Taunton taking all three points, but certainly lots of positives to take from the second half performance from Steve Tully’s men.