GIVEN the way 2014 panned out for Dorchester Town, it was perhaps inevitable that their year should end with another defeat to rivals Weymouth on a miserable Boxing Day afternoon at the Avenue.

While the two previous years saw the Magpies enjoy success in league and cup, the last 12 months on the pitch have been something of a disaster for the county town outfit.

Demotion from Conference South under Phil Simkin was hard to swallow for the Dorchester supporters, who a year before had witnessed their side finish with a club record points total in the same division.

But seeing their team, now managed by Simkin’s successor Graham Kemp, struggling to hold its own in the Southern League Premier Division has led to fears that 2015 could bring a second successive relegation.

On the player front, while the same core of regulars continued to battle hard for the cause, 2014 saw the usual high turnaround of squad members coming and going.

However, one mainstay of the club over the last decade and more, Mark Jermyn, left the Avenue in the summer – something which many people didn’t see coming.

Things haven’t exactly been quiet off the pitch either.

As well as Kemp taking over from Simkin, Matt Lucas was installed as the club’s new chairman after Neal Butterworth stepped down.

And, after proposals to make the Magpies a community-owned club were announced in 2013, shareholders voted in favour of converting Dorchester to a Community Benefit Society.

The year was also tinged with sadness as much-loved kitman Alex Legge passed away in September at the age of just 38.

Dorchester began 2014 bottom of the Conference South table – where they would finish the season – and, after several postponements caused by the wet weather, the team kicked off the new year with a 5-0 drubbing at Boreham Wood.

That set the tone for the rest of the campaign and a 4-0 hammering by Dover followed in the next match.

There was a bit of good news, however, when Nathan Walker re-joined the club on loan from Weymouth – he would go on to stay for the rest of the season before coming back permanently.

The Magpies’ first league win of the year came on February 8 when Sam Lanahan’s goal was enough to secure a precious three points at promotion hopefuls Eastbourne Borough.

Simkin’s wheeling and dealing in the loan market then enabled him to bring in Ashley Yeoman and Nathan Craig from Torquay – and the duo made an immediate impact on debut against league leaders Bromley.

Both scored and Jamie Gleeson netted a last-minute winner for the Magpies in a thrilling 3-2 triumph.

Then, a week later, it was Jermyn’s turn to grab a winning goal deep in injury-time as Simkin’s men won 2-1 at Tonbridge Angels.

Hopes of a sensational escape from the drop were handed another boost in early March when Nick Crittenden held his nerve from the spot to seal a point against Staines.

But defeats to Boreham Wood, Bath and Chelmsford, and then a 6-0 walloping by high-flying Eastleigh left Dorchester’s survival bid in tatters.

By this point in the season a couple of the squad’s experienced players, including Jake Smeeton and Crittenden, had committed themselves to another year with the club, though after a late loss to Basingstoke it was looking more and more like those extra 12 months would be spent playing at Southern League level.

The chances of Dorchester retaining their Conference South status were left hanging by a thread on April Fools’ Day when Maidenhead left the Avenue with a 3-0 victory.

And, despite another Jermyn winner against Farnborough, the Magpies’ fate was finally sealed with a 2-0 defeat to Hayes & Yeading.

Alan Walker-Harris and Smee-ton claimed the top awards at the end-of-season presentation after the last home game of the term, before a 4-0 final-day loss to Ebbsfleet brought the curtain down on a campaign to forget for Simkin and his players.

Simkin began recruiting for life in the Southern League when he snapped up strikers Ben Joyce and Dan Cann in May.

However, a couple of weeks later, and after Walker and Walker-Harris had penned deals to stay at the club, Jermyn, Dorchester’s all-time record appearance maker, left to join Poole.

The 33-year-old had arrived from Torquay in 2000 and played more than 600 times for the club, with many expecting the Mag-pies’ skipper to see out his career at the Avenue.

Some are still holding out hope that he will return one day.

With Jermyn leaving, Walker was made captain, while ex-Weymouth midfielder Dan Smith became another summer signing for Simkin just before the pre-season programme of friendlies started at home to Torquay.

But the less said about those the better – they included 11-0 and 9-0 hidings at the hands of Bournemouth and Yeovil respectively.

July also saw Neal Butterworth stand down as chairman after feeling that the club needed someone who could attract “fairly significant” investment.

With Matt Lucas taking the reins on an interim basis to start with, the team began life in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division with a 1-0 reverse at Arlesey.

Wins over Burnham and Hereford followed, but after three successive defeats, the last one against rivals Weymouth at the end of August, the board made the decision to sack Simkin.

The manager didn’t help his cause by reacting angrily to calls from his own team’s supporters to leave during the Terras’ clash.

Simkin’s assistant Stuart Heath agreed to take charge of the side as caretaker-manager.

However, football became largely irrelevant in early September when Alex Legge, a popular figure around the club, the town, and in Weymouth, died suddenly.

Legge, son of club life president Stacey Legge, was mourned by everyone at the Avenue on an emotional night when the Magpies played Truro.

By the time Dorchester began their FA Cup campaign at Yate a new manager had been found.

Former Winchester, Christchurch and Hamworthy United boss Graham Kemp enjoyed success in the cup, with new recruit Andy Robinson netting the winner at home to Hendon in October to set up a meeting with Bristol Rovers in the final qualifying round – Dorchester’s cup run was ended by a 7-1 trouncing.

There were league wins against Hungerford, Hitchin and Burnham too, but a woeful performance against Wimborne in the FA Trophy sparked a run of form that has left the Magpies just above the relegation zone.

Despite bringing in a number of new faces and losing the likes of Joyce and Cann, things have been getting increasingly difficult for Kemp, who told his players on more than one occasion that they were fighting for their futures.

A total of 18 goals conceded in the last five league games of the year means that, even though there are positive signs for the club off the pitch with the Community Benefit Society vote being passed in December, the aim for 2015 has to be all about avoiding relegation and then regrouping for next season.