TEAM SOLENT RES 3 DORCHESTER TOWN RES 1

DORCHESTER lost to a side in the top two of the Wyvern League Premier Division for the second time in just over 48 hours as they were beaten 3-1 by Team Solent.

Going into the game on the back of a 4-1 defeat at leaders Sholing, the Magpies more than held their own in the opening 45 minutes before conceding three times after the break.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between during the first period on Solent’s 3G surface.

The majority of any scoring opportunities created were done so by the hosts, though Dorchester keeper Josh Lucas dealt with them comfortably.

Lewis Brown had the visitors’ only real chance prior to the interval with an angled shot that the home side’s keeper tipped over.

The fitness of the Magpies’ players was always going to be put to the test in the second half given the quick turnaround.

Lucas was finally beaten by a header, however, the Solent scorer appeared to be in an offside position when he put the ball in the net.

That knocked the stuffing out of the Dorchester youngsters and goals two and three followed within 10 minutes of each other.

Some great individual skill from Frankie White five minutes from the end saw him grab a consolation from distance.

A very similar Dorchester team had taken to the field a few days earlier for a meeting with league frontrunners Sholing.

Neil Mackie and Jay Keating’s men couldn’t have had a more difficult start as the hosts scored twice with two unstoppable efforts.

Dorchester struggled to get into the game and conceded a third on the half-hour mark.

But from this point on the Magpies were a different side.

Tony Rolls and Ryan Giles broke up Sholing attacks, Scott Walters and David Jerrard started to influence things in the middle, and Callum Neate made it 3-1 with his first goal in a Dorchester shirt just before the break.

Dorchester started the second half the way they finished the first.

Brandon Huckstepp covered every blade of grass, while a fine save from Lucas and superb clearance by Rolls kept the deficit at two.

The hosts’ fourth goal did come on 70 minutes, but the Magpies’ youngsters went at Sholing until the final whistle, with Dan Morris and Ross Giles putting in good performances on their debuts.

Magpies: Lucas, White, Taylor, Walters, Bush, Giles, Huckstepp, Pashen (Old 45), Neate (Sabine 65), Jerrard, Brown. Sub not used: Hanger