DORCHESTER Town chairman Matt Lucas is adamant that a decision taken by the club to remove the Magpies’ second string from competition was done “collectively”.

Last season, Rich Robson’s men finished fifth in the Wyvern Midweek Combination League, but the Magpies’ reserves will now only compete in friendly action against league clubs, where available.

Lucas explained that the decision had not been taken lightly and was considered in “great detail”.

He told Echosport: “It was a decision made by the board but in conjunction with the club team management as well.

“We’ll certainly be looking to play development games through the season as and when we feel we need to do that. It was felt collectively that this was possibly the best way for us coming into the new season.

“It’s a decision that’s been looked at in great detail. We wanted to make sure it was a decision that sat right with Steve (Thompson, manager).”

But Lucas denied the decision would have an impact on the club’s young players, adding: “We’ve got an excellent section at Dorchester Town Youth, one that many clubs would love to have. We’re not going to stop playing development games, the only difference is we won’t be doing it with a regular league set-up.

“There are limitations with the various leagues that we would be able to play in. The Wyvern has served us well – we just felt that it was best to go.

“There were a number of games that had to be called off as first-team games took precedence and it wasn’t always because of the pitches. We just felt that it was not the right league for us to be in.”

A recent success story for the reserves has been winger Ben Morris, who signed a first-team deal earlier this summer after scoring twice in pre-season. However, the future of reserves’ manager Robson remains unclear, despite having a limited involvement with the first team in pre-season training.