DORCHESTER Town boss Steve Thompson described the Magpies’ 2-0 loss against his former club Yeovil Town as a “step up”.

Goals from ‘Trialist D’ and Korrey Henry in each half gave the Glovers a merited victory, while Alex Stafie missed an open goal after rounding veteran gloveman Steve Phillips.

Thompson told Echosport the Magpies’ work rate was satisfactory, but was eager to see more from his side against Yeovil, who fielded a mixture of first-teamers, academy players and trialists.

He said: “They’ve got players with more experience, so it was a bit of a step up from the Plymouth game.

“First half we worked extremely hard but didn’t play well. Second half we still worked extremely hard but played a lot better.”

Thompson also called for more “composure” from the Magpies.

He added: “I wasn’t pleased with the first-half quality and composure. That’s my job on the coaching field to make the team a little bit more composed.

“We were far more composed second half but there’s still quite a bit of work to be done on that.”

Meanwhile, Dorchester have announced that striker Ash Pope has agreed a deal to play at the Avenue Stadium next season.

Pope, who was initially brought into the club on a work experience loan from AFC Bournemouth last season, went on to play 13 games for the Magpies, scoring six goals including a debut effort in a 2-2 draw at Chesham United.

Teenager Pope, who has started all four of Dorchester’s pre-season friendlies so far, yielding one goal against Portland United, becomes the Magpies’ second signing in two days, following Callum Rose.