HIS side may not have done the double over rivals Weymouth on Boxing Day but Dorchester chief Mark Jermyn insists the county town outfit fully deserved their point at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

But while the Magpies’ boss took delight in Franklyn Clarke’s last-ditch equaliser in the 2-2 draw, he was also puzzled by referee Marc Whaley’s decision to give the Terras a first-half spot-kick.

After Nathan Walker had put Dorchester in front, visiting keeper Alan Walker-Harris was penalised for bringing down Weymouth’s Adam Kelly after the midfielder fired wide of the target.

Chris Shephard converted the penalty before Stewart Yetton gave the hosts the lead at the break.

However, substitute Clarke was to have the final say, the debutant netting in the 93rd minute to send the Dorchester fans wild.

“Given the way the game went, I don’t think it was anything we didn’t deserve,” said Jermyn on claiming a share of the spoils.

“Franklyn being a debutant and scoring the way he did has catapulted him into the arms of the supporters already.

“He couldn’t have had a better start, and sometimes things like that are just meant to happen.

“I thought we reacted better in the second half and that is what got us a point, and we’ve taken four points off them this season.

“When you look at how many attacks we had in the second half it reached breaking point, and if the game had gone on a bit longer we would have scored again.

“They had a great chance before we scored at the end and if it had gone to 3-1 we would have felt pretty hard done by.”

Commenting on the penalty award, he added: “I spoke to every man and his dog after the game and no-one could see what the referee saw.

“I just believe the referee got that one wrong. None of their players reacted and asked for a penalty.”

Clarke’s impact from the bench was obvious but Jermyn also had praise for Dorchester’s other substitutes, Liam Sayers and the returning Ben Watson.

The Magpies host strugglers Bideford in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division on Saturday (3pm).

  • Dorchester Town will host an open meeting for supporters at the Avenue tonight (6.30pm) to discuss potential marketing and promotional ideas to help build the club’s fan base across the local community.

The meeting is chaired by supporter Cameron Marett and there will be at least two directors in attendance.

Anyone with suggestions or questions should email cameronmarett@icloud.com