DORCHESTER Town boss Steve Thompson praised the Magpies’ “battling” qualities after Sam Lanahan’s 93rd-minute header handed them all three points against Biggleswade Town.

Having taken the lead through substitute Callum Rose’s first goal for the club, Dorchester were left clinging to a 1-1 draw when Tony Burnett equalised with 12 minutes remaining.

But Dorchester withstood a nervy late spell, as Biggleswade pressed forward, to land the decisive punch through Lanahan.

The Magpies’ victory earns them a second consecutive home win and means Dorchester have lost just two of nine Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division games since Thompson took over as boss.

Despite claiming all three points, Thompson reiterated his belief that the county town side still have “a lot of work to do” after struggling for fluency throughout the match.

He told Echosport: “We didn’t play well, there’s no question about that. But the boys are battling and we’ve had two defeats in nine league games.

“It was lovely to get the winner, obviously, and the result’s fantastic but we’ve got a lot of work to do.

“I think we’re relying too much on our goalkeeper and back four to see us through games and we need a lot more in the midfield and attacking positions.

“It is nice to see us a little bit more solid at the back. The back four in the last three games have looked reasonably solid.

“So I’m delighted with the win but I’m under no illusions that there’s so much work to be done.”

One key positive for Thompson was his belief that Dorchester, who remain 20th, have become “harder to beat”.

He said: “I don’t really look too much at the league table. Now and then I’ll glance at it, but I look at it more in terms of nine matches, two defeats.

“We’ve become harder to beat, there’s no doubt about that. I wouldn’t say we didn’t deserve to win it. Their manager would probably say a draw would be a fair result.

“I couldn’t argue with that but you don’t always get fair in football and I’m sure Dorchester in some games this season haven’t had the rub of the green.”

Thompson also lauded the impact of his substitutes with Tom Blair, who came on in the 86th minute, setting up Lanahan’s goal with a superb run and cross.

“It was a tremendous cross. It’s nice to see Tom come on for 10 minutes and produce a match-winning assist.

“As I say to the squad, the substitutes are so important in games and if anything proves it, that does there with Tom creating the winning goal.

“Maybe I’m lucky! But your luck normally as a manager or coach is usually swings and roundabouts.

“The substitutions have worked well but at times in the second half there could have been any one of five or six that I took off. It’s tough to make that decision and tough to know what time to do it.

“It’s nice to see Tom come on and play a part. He’s a confidence player and you could see his face at the end, he had a massive smile as he went down to the changing room and that’s nice to see and it will hopefully give him a bit more confidence,” Thompson said.

n Dorchester will travel to Wimborne Town in Dorset Senior Cup quarter-final action on Tuesday, November 28.

n In two rearranged fixtures, the Magpies will host Farnborough on Monday, December 18 and visit Slough on Tuesday, January 16 (all 7.45pm).