MARK Jermyn was unable to hide his frustration after the Magpies were denied what he felt was a stonewall penalty near the end of their 1-0 defeat by Cirencester Town at the Avenue on Saturday.

The Dorchester player-manager openly admitted the hosts had been below their best against the Centurions, but he was convinced they deserved something from the game.

And they would have had a great chance to claim a share of the spoils if Plymouth referee Robert Dabbs had awarded them a spot-kick in second-half injury-time.

With time ticking away, Cirences-ter keeper Glyn Garner appeared to floor defender Matt Oldring as he tried to catch a free-kick, before Jermyn himself went down under a challenge when trying to turn the loose ball towards goal.

“I can’t understand how it wasn’t a penalty,” said the county town boss. “The ball came off someone and landed at my feet, and I was just about to shoot when I felt a shove.

“I was trying to adjust my feet but I just couldn’t and fell over.

“The referee said he didn’t think it was a penalty but we thought he indicated that it was.

“He blew his whistle and referees don’t generally do that if they are just giving a goal kick.

“The guys on the bench also said it looked like he pointed to the penalty spot.

“I didn’t dive but if it wasn’t a penalty why wasn’t I booked for diving?”

He went on to add: “It’s frustrating because as soon as he doesn’t give a penalty you know you’re not going to get one, no matter how much shouting and screaming you do.

“After the game I asked him to have a look at it on the video because that cost us a valuable point and we deserved to get something out of the game.

“I felt we more than matched them, though we did give away a sloppy goal.

“We should be defending set-pieces better but when people switch off you get punished.

“But we had more than enough opportunities to get back into it.”

Commenting on his team’s display, he continued: “Although our performance wasn’t as good as it could have been we kept going until the end and didn’t capitulate after they scored.

“Regardless of who we play, if we keep our performance levels up there is no reason why we can’t compete in every game we play.

“The teams at the top aren’t that much better than we are, they just have more strength in depth in their squads.”

Jermyn also revealed to Echosport that defender Chris Dillon has turned down a move to an unnamed club, while Sam Lanahan could be a doubt for Wednesday’s game at Frome after suffering from blurred vision early in Saturday’s match.