Browner and Taff confident of even more success at Poole this time around
on 11/08/09 by Andy Starmore
Poole Town skipper Simon Browne wasn’t worried that their opening game was a narrow 1-0 triumph over New Milton at the weekend, stating that three points was more than welcome.

“To start the season with a win is what you’re always looking to do,” he said. “We’ve won the game, got three points and kept a clean sheet.

“We put a bit of pressure on ourselves because at 1-0 you’ve always got a chance.

“We would have been gutted if they’d got an equaliser.

“They’re one of the better sides in the league so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy start for us.

“With the likes of Stuart Brown and Charlie Austin in the side though, we’ll give some teams a good hiding this season.”

The winning goal at Tatnam on Saturday came via veteran Taffy Richardson, a player who refuses to hang his talented and determined boots up.

Browne is only too aware of the impact that the former Wembley winner has at the Dolphins.

With a smile on his face Browne said, “I love having Taffy around because it makes me not being the oldest member in the squad.

“As the game was going on in the second half you need a couple of sensible heads on the pitch and he popped up with the winner.

“He’s been saying he’s going to get 10 goals this season so he’s one up already.”

Richardson’s Wembley success came way back in 1992 when he scored Wimborne’s opening goal in their 5-3 FA Vase victory against Guiseley, a competition Browne would love to also succeed in.

“The thing is with the FA Vase like any competitions you need a bit of luck.

“Obviously to get to Wembley would be fantastic but that’s dream land at the moment.

“Hopefully the club is going to go forward with the new ground and if we can win the league again this year then hopefully we can start at the new ground as a Southern League club.

“I’ve been around long enough to remember when Poole were a Southern League side and they’ve still got that fan base.

“It’s a big old town is Poole so it should have a big fan base.”

Richardson himself is looking forward to another successful season at Tatnam and worryingly for the rest of the league he believes that Poole are actually a better squad than last season.

“Tom (Killick – Poole manager) has added one or two new players and hopefully they’ll prove themselves but that only comes with hard work.

“If they work hard then I think we’ll be better than last year.

“The opening game is always difficult. You just want to get a win. It doesn’t matter if you win 6-0 or 1-0 you just want a win.

“If you lose your first game there’s a bit of pressure on you straight away.

“New Milton aren’t a bad side. They’ll do alright this season. They made it hard for us so I’ll settle for 1-0 against them, I’m quite happy about that.

“This season is going to be harder than last season because everyone wants to beat us.

“Anyone can beat anyone in this league so you’ve got to respect every team.

“If we beat everyone 1-0 I’d be happy with that.

“I love 1-0s because it means you’ve got a bit of character. And we’ve got to have that character this season because everyone wants to beat us.

“They’re all good players here so if everyone gets their attitude right I’m sure we’ll be alright.

“My ambition every season is to win every game. If you win every game you win the league, you win the Vase, everything.

“Every time I put a shirt on I want to win.”

And how about a triumphant return to Wembley?

“It would be magnificent to win the Vase and to have played at the old Wembley and the new Wembley.

“That’s obviously a long way off but somebody gets there don’t they.

“If we keep everyone fit then we’re as good as anything in that competition.

Poole Town have and will play better than they did on Saturday with one aspect of their game, crossing, not at its best. Richardson agreed but insists that particular part of their game will improve.

“We’ve got to do better than that. That’s one reason whywe didn’t score a few goals against New Milton.

“The end product was poor and sometimes that’s why some players are only playing at this level. If they can do that consistently then they’d probably be playing at a higher level.

“The lads work hard though and I’m sure they’ll be working on that.

“When they stop putting crosses in then that’s when you’ve got a problem. If they keep trying then I’ve not got a problem with that.”

Against the New Foresters one of Poole’s new signings Pete Smith put in a man-of-the-match performance and Richardson agrees the diminutive talent of Smith P is a terrific addition to an already strong squad.

“What Pete does is his work rate is tremendous going forward and tracking back. He’s got great ability and a great attitude as well.

“It’s quite infectious because you see Kevin Gill doing it and he’s thinking well I can do that as well.”