DORCHESTER’S relegation from the Dorset Premier League has been down to player availability, according to Pete Moxom.

The county town side saw their top-flight status come to an end on Saturday at a rain-soaked Redlands alongside local rivals Weymouth, who are also set for the drop with two games of the season still remaining.

The derby game did not even get going and afterwards Dorchester star Moxom offered his thoughts on why his side has struggled so much this season.

He told Echosport: “I think it has come down to people’s commitment and from what I hear Weymouth have suffered something similar.

“That has definitely been the main factor at Dorchester with people’s commitment to make themselves available for games having been a lot slacker than previous years.

“It also makes a difference when you start losing games as people tend to go missing.

“More consistency in terms of availability is what needs to happen to improve the club but at the end of the day you cannot make people play.

“We don’t get paid for playing or anything like that so all we can do is hope it improves in the future.

“Some of the Parley boys said recently that on paper we should be up there challenging with them and I tend to agree with them.

“When you look at the quality of the players that could be available to us we look very strong, but at the end of the day the commitment hasn’t been there and we just haven’t been good enough – it is as simple as that.”

When asked whether key players getting more responsibilities as they get older is part of the quandary when it comes to availability, Moxom added: “Perhaps with Weymouth that could be the case because they have always depended on a core group of players.

“Their team has been built around the likes of Jim Ryall, Paul Payne, Dean Janaway and Laurie Whyte for a long time now, but we are a bit different.

“With Dorchester being the county town, people have tended to come and go a bit more.

“For example, Rob Waite has moved up to London for work and in recent years others have come and gone like that too.

“I also think that playing sport on a weekend is not such a priority for the younger ones anymore and, to be honest, I have no idea why that is.

“I remember in my early days when all I wanted to do was push up the ranks and secure a place in the first team.

“At that time the first team lads seemed to be there week in, week out and as a result I just took it that it was how things worked, but it doesn’t seem to be like that anymore.

“Having said that though, we do have some really good young kids coming through at the moment, so perhaps we are just on one of those cycles that all teams tend to go through.

“When we won the Dorset Premier League in 2008 we had been in Division One the three years prior to that, so this step back certainly isn’t the end of the world, but it is still hard to take.

“All we can do is go with it and and try and return as soon as possible. The good times will come back I’m sure.”