MAGPIES’ first team coach Stuart Heath believes the county town squad “will remain positive” despite admitting they were second best on the night at Kettering Town.

The Poppies cruised to victory over Dorchester with a 3-0 triumph, as the Magpies failed to record back-to-back victories and suffered their eighth away defeat in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division this term.

Giving his thoughts on the loss, Heath told Echosport: “I felt at 1-0 we were still in the game but they scored with an unfortunate mishit for their second goal and the third goal was when we were still pushing forward, even when we just had 10 men (due to the loss of Charlie Davis through injury) in the last 10 minutes.

“I felt the final scoreline was harsh but credit to Kettering. I thought they were the better team on the night and were one of the more physically powerful teams we have played this season – at times we struggle with that.

“You go to a tough place like that and it’s a tough place to get a result.”

He added: “Our players’ application and effort levels were good, there was just maybe a lack of quality and physical power at times.

“We will remain positive and we talked long and hard to the players after about staying positive and maintaining the belief and confidence in what they are doing and how far they have come from the start of the season.

“We have a number of individuals that are playing at this level for a first time. When you have that, you can get inconsistency with what’s required game after game at this tough, demanding level.

“The players have got to show real character and personality to bounce back from these setbacks.”

Heath also revealed that midfielder Davis, who is now set to serve a suspension, “rolled his ankle quite badly” and that he may have sustained some ligament damage. Chris Dillon was unavailable due to work commitments.

  • Dorchester Town Reserves beat United Services Portsmouth Reserves 1-0 at the Avenue, while in Sky Bet League Two, Yeovil Town drew 0-0 with Plymouth.