DORCHESTER Town boss Callum Brooks described the Magpies’ 0-0 draw at Hendon as a “huge point” with the Dorset side seeking to stave off relegation.

Brooks’ men have now collected 11 points from six games since previous boss Steve Thompson departed following the 0-0 draw with Gosport – who remain 20th despite beating promotion hopefuls Salisbury 2-0.

As a result, Boro now sit six points behind the Magpies with four games to play, although 14th-placed Dorchester exist in the middle of a gaggle of 13 teams yet to be assured of safety.

Speaking to Echosport, Brooks admitted his gameplan had been centred around avoiding defeat.

He said: “It’s a huge point that goes on to the total we’re trying to amount to ensure we remain in the league.

“It’s a point which we came up here for, to be fair. Not so much the point, but we set out for a clean sheet. Whatever happened, we didn’t want to concede a goal.

“I wanted to make sure that if we scored a goal it would be enough for three points.

“We didn’t create bundles but we stuck to our guns and we didn’t concede so we came out with a point at a difficult place to go – it’s all very positive.”

A fast opening to the game saw five chances created in 14 minutes – three for the hosts – while Dorchester cleared a shot off the line in the second half before Ben Seymour curled a free-kick at Greens’ keeper Chris Grace.

Commenting on the Hendon chances, Brooks confessed he had been happy to offer Hendon possession in exchange for defensive organisation.

He said: “We did come under a bit of pressure, as you would expect. You’re never going to go away from home and not come under some pressure.

“All the pressure was either a long throw or a long ball into the box because we decided to defend deep. That was our way of setting up.

“We felt that we’d be able to handle long balls into the box – by and large we did.

“The downside of that is that we did have to throw some bodies in the way here and there. But my lads defended really fantastically.

“They were absolutely determined to come away with a point and credit to them for that. I said we’ve got a gameplan and I wanted to see discipline and desire to come away from home and stick to a plan.

“Our lads executed it to a tee. It wasn’t one for the purists and it’s not one I’ll look forward to watching back. But the reality is we’re now on 49 points, which is hugely positive from where we were.”