GRAHAM Kemp praised the efforts of his Dorchester Town charges as they stuck to the task to see off Abingdon in the FA Cup on Saturday.

A superb Sam Lanahan strike in the second half followed up by Dan Smith’s spot-kick proved enough for Dorchester to pro-gress.

But with the score deadlocked at the interval, Kemp did not panic, and insisted he was keen to keep things upbeat.

“I am a positive-thinking manager and I’m very keen to bring a positive vibe to the team and the club as a whole,” he told Echosport.

“There was no downbeat attitude and I wasn’t mad at half- time because it was 0-0 against a team two leagues below us, it was all positive and I try to get that across as much as I can.

“The first half was a little bit frustrating, we didn’t quite get going but we grew into the game and, in the end, we dominated proceedings and could have won by four or five.

“When you play a team from a lower league a manager can talk until he is blue in the face, the players psychologically drop a little.

"I just reminded them that if we sharpened up a bit the game was ours for the taking and that’s what they did in the second half.”

The Magpies’ manager, who still boasts a 100 per cent record at the club after three games, also told Echosport that he will be holding talks with Bashley defender Matt Oldring, after it was revealed the club put in a seven-day approach for the defender last week.

Kemp added: “Bashley obviously said nice things about him and I know he is a good player.

“I have seen him over the last three or four seasons locally, he can play central defence, at full-back and in the middle of midfield and he is the sort of player we are looking to bring in.

“He is the right age and has the right temperament. I will meet with him this week and hopefully get him tied up and we will move on from there.”