Brooks takes the positives as Magpies forced to replay

9:08am Monday 29th September 2008

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ALTHOUGH disappointed to have let a 2-0 advantage slip Dorchester boss Shaun Brooks felt there were plenty of positives to take from Saturday's FA Cup second qualifying round draw with Newport County.

Ryan Moss' double, the second being from the penalty spot, put the Magpies into what looked to be a comfortable lead.

But the visitors were allowed back into the game via another penalty, before a deflected Danny Rose free-kick ensured a replay at the Newport Stadium on Wednesday night.

Brooks said: "It was disappointing but I thought that we were excellent in the first half.

"We were okay in the first 10-15 minutes of the second period but then we got nervous, especially after conceding the first goal.

"At that point we stopped doing the things that got us into the lead, we stopped passing the ball and you could see the nervousness.

"But there were lots of positives, so we'll go to Newport on Wednesday and look to get into the next round. If we play to our potential we can go there and be confident."

Moss' second of the game came after Martin Giles was penalised for handling Jamie Mudge's cross.

The Magpies' striker missed his first attempt but was given a second chance after County keeper Glyn Thompson had moved off his line.

And Moss made no mistake at the second time of asking. At the other end, nine minutes later, Kevin Hill was adjudged to have fouled Rose in the box and Rob Duffy calmly scored from 12 yards.

Of the two penalty incidents, Brooks added: "I thought ours was a penalty but theirs I couldn't see for the life of me - I didn't think it was a penalty. And their penalty changed the nature of the game as from being 2-0 up it was 2-1 and we got twitchy and paid the price.

"For their second goal we went in for a tackle on the edge of the box that we can't win, we didn't set ourselves up correctly for the free-kick and panic sets in because the lads are so desperate to win a game that they can't keep their heads.

"So from not being organised enough they then scored from the free-kick."

The county town manager paid tribute to his goalscorer, who bagged his second and third goals of the season.

Brooks said: "I thought Ryan was excellent - his best performance for the club this season.

"The two strikes will kick-start him and I'm sure he'll start scoring more goals for the club."