Dorchester TOWN 0

SUTTON UNITED 0

PHIL Simkin admits he may have taken charge of his last game – but insists he has “left a mark” after leading the Magpies to a sixth match without defeat.

Dorchester earned a hard-fought point on Saturday as they held third-placed Sutton United at the Avenue Stadium.

Simkin has collected 11 points from a possible 15 since taking the reins but with the likes of West Ham legend Julian Dicks and ex-Salisbury City manager Nick Holmes watching from the stands at the weekend, it appears the county town board may look elsewhere for a permanent successor to Ashley Vickers.

The caretaker-boss said: “The decision is totally out of my hands but I feel I’ve left a mark whatever happens and I’m proud of that.

“I have no idea if that’ll be my last game but if it is, it wasn’t a bad way to go out.

“Whatever happens in the future I’ll never forget what the players have done for me. They have been terrific.”

The visitors enjoyed the better of the first half but a tactical switch from Simkin gave the hosts a new lease of life and they almost found the breakthrough with substitute Ryan Dovell and skipper Mark Jermyn going closest for the county town side.

Simkin added: “Rico Wilson was unfortunate to come off but I had to change things because it was hurting us.

“I’m not knocking Rico at all, the fact of the matter is that we had to change our shape. In the end it proved to be the right decision.

“It was a total team performance and it’s difficult to pick out individuals. I thought we defended absolutely brilliantly and it’s another clean sheet.

“I think most people expected us to get a good tanking. I never thought that and I was delighted with our second-half performance.

“We were perhaps unlucky not to win it in the end but if someone had offered me a draw before the game I would have taken it.”

The in-form Magpies were forced to make two changes from the side that overcame Hampton & Richmond.

Kyle Critchell, who forced the injury-time own goal that handed all three points to the hosts, was missing with flu while Ryan Moss failed to recover from a side injury which forced him off during last weekend’s win.

Taking their places were Gary Bowles – making his first league start since Ashley Vickers’ departure – and Wilson.

The changes did not appear to disrupt the Magpies’ flow early on as they hit the woodwork after just four minutes.

Ben Dickenson’s corner was won at the back stick by Nathan Walker and his looping header came back off the top of the crossbar.

United enjoyed their fair share of the early exchanges though and Jermyn produced a vital block as opposing skipper Sam Page shot from close range, before Neil Jenkins fired wide of the left-hand post after Jamie Gleeson was harshly penalised 20 yards from goal.

The visitors were beginning to build a head of steam and just past the quarter-hour mark, Bowles was forced to divert Karl Murray’s fierce drive over the top, in front of his own keeper.

Man mountain Craig Dundas then hit the side netting from an acute angle after losing his marker at the far post.

The same man found himself completely unmarked yet again in the 34th minute but could only head over the top from Leroy Griffths’ set-piece.

The pressure continued to build and two minutes later the upright came to Dorchester’s rescue after Chris Piper’s cross-cum-shot had Alan Walker-Harris rooted to the spot.

The Magpies were struggling to retain possession up top, partly due to the absence of leading scorer Moss, and Simkin responded by withdrawing the ineffective Wilson and replacing him with the moustachioed Dovell six minutes before the break.

The switch almost proved to be a masterstroke 27 seconds into the second period when Neil Martin set Dovell through on goal.

The former Bridport forward successfully rounded Scriven but his goalbound effort was cleared off the line by Piper.

Dundas and Murray both failed to hit the target as the Us retaliated while back at the other end, Dovell nodded wide following fine build-up play from the hosts.

The best chance of the match thus far fell to Craig Watkins. But after leaving a host of Magpies trailing in his wake, the United striker blazed over with just Walker-Harris to beat.

Dorchester’s keeper was then forced to parry Harry Beautyman’s curling free-kick before Dovell was foiled by Scriven as the two sides continued to trade blows.

It looked as though it would take a moment of magic, or an unfortunate mistake, to find a winner. And it was almost the former 17 minutes from time, albeit from an unlikely source.

Jermyn chested the ball down in the centre circle, charged forwards and then let fly with a dipping shot from all of 35 yards. The effort caught Scriven off guard and he just about managed to clamber back and tip the ball over the top.

And that was to prove the final action of the afternoon, as both teams huffed and puffed for an elusive winning goal.

Magpies: Walker-Harris, Bowles, Smeeton, Jermyn, N Walker, Gleeson, Crittenden, Nicholls, Wilson (Dovell 39), Dickenson, Martin. Subs not used: Symes, Devlin, Bell, Taylor.

Sutton: Scriven, Piper, Jenkins (El-Salahi 31), Beautyman, Downer, Page, Riviere, Watkins (McCrae 88), Griffiths, Dundas (Taggart 75), Murray. Subs not used: Orilonishe, Kavanagh.