DELIGHTED Dorchester Town boss Callum Brooks felt the Magpies “stood up” to the pressure during a long-awaited 2-0 victory over Yate Town at the Clayson Stadium.

Brooks’ men had not won in the BetVictor Southern Premier South since a 3-1 success over Hendon on September 14, slipping to 20th in the process.

However, first-half goals from Neil Martin and Tom Blair handed the Magpies all three points against the in-form Bluebells, who had beaten leaders Tiverton in their previous encounter.

Brooks believed Dorchester’s first-half display had been “exceptional”.

He said: “We didn’t make a secret of the fact that we felt (Yate) was a game we had to get a result in – we needed to be picking up three points.

“When you’re heading into games with that kind of pressure, there’s no guarantees even if you do your bit right. Our lads stood up to it and I thought we were exceptional with some of our play in the first half.

“Second half we had to dig in at times, as you would expect, but we can now look forwards.”

Dorchester have made a habit of slow starts this season, but two first-half goals alleviated that ailment – a pleasing aspect of the game for Brooks.

He said: “We were in a position where a couple of chances went in. There’s too many games where we felt we’ve had some good play, carved out a couple of openings and not capitalised.

“If you look at the stats a lot of the time the team that takes the lead goes on to win. It was a luxury – anyone would like to be 2-0 up at half-time, it doesn’t happen often.”

The fixture also doubled as assistant-manager Trevor Senior final game in the dugout after the former Reading striker announced his decision to step aside from the role.

Brooks said: “First of all, I need to thank Trev for his efforts at the club during the time I’ve been here and the time previous.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Trev, I felt we had a fairly good relationship. He was really important in the process of me getting a handle on the group when I came in last year.

“On a personal level, I feel we’ve built up a bit of a friendship. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the career he’s had in the game. I wish him nothing but best wishes moving forwards.”

Dorchester visit Wimborne Town in league action tomorrow (7.45pm).