POOLE Town are through to the FA Cup third qualifying round, courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Salisbury.

But, in all probability, the teams would have been replaying at Tatnam tomorrow had London referee Lee Bennan awarded them a late penalty, writes Mike Vimpany.

The Dolphins were clinging onto Jamie Whisken’s 62nd-minute header when sub Chris Shephard went down in the area under a challenge from Jack Smeeton.

Bennan waved away Salisbury’s protests and, minutes later, sub Jez Bedford, a Pompey loanee, buried Poole’s second.

“A cast-iron penalty,” declared Shephard afterwards.

Needless to say, rival managers Tommy Killick and Salisbury’s Steve Claridge took a polar opposite view.

Killick had no doubts the referee had got it right.

“The referee deserves an awful lot of credit,” he said.

“Nine out of ten referees, in front of 1,000 people, would have awarded a penalty to the home side.

“The referee had the courage to realise it wasn’t a foul and not bow to the pressure o fthe surroundings.”

Claridge saw it differently. “It was a penalty," he insisted.

"Chris Shephard had no reason to go down. He’s going to score. He’s gone in between two defenders and he’s been brought down.

“The referee’s got himself in a poor position.”

Overall, Salisbury probably didn’t deserve much from an untidy second qualifying round tie punctuated by stoppages and time-wasting.

The result meant everything to Poole, who were down on confidence after losing six of their previous seven National League South games.

“The result was the be-all and end-all,” Killick added. “It wasn’t a pretty performance, but our confidence was so low beforehand, I’ve never never known anything like it.”

That confidence noticeably soared once former AFC Totton favourite Whisken had headed Poole into a 62nd-minute lead from a corner.

It snapped Salisbury out of their lethargy and, as the minutes ticked away, ex-Dolphin Marvin Brooks thudded a shot against the base of the Poole right-hand upright.

Seven minutes into stoppage-time Bedford was allowed space just inside the Whites area and drilled a shot into the top left-hand corner.