WEYMOUTH lacked “cutting edge” as Darlington dumped Brian Stock’s Terras out of the FA Trophy fourth round with a 1-0 win at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Pre-match, all the talk had been of Stock’s impressive capture of highly-rated Aston Villa defender Dominic Revan and his fellow centre-back Jacob Mensah.

The duo duly delivered a strong performance – but it was in the final third where Weymouth’s demons laid as Stock’s men failed to register a shot on target for the second successive game.

Only Jordan Ngalo and Sean Shields tried their luck, both firing off target from 20 yards out in the first-half, while an Ollie Harfield free-kick sailed over in the 89th minute.

For hard-working Darlington, victory was fully warranted after former Premier League star Nicky Hunt’s exemplary defensive display and Will Hatfield’s 20-yard winner.

Speaking post-match, Stock did not hide his irritation as Weymouth were knocked out of cup competition for the second time this season by lower league opponents.

He said: “Our main objective was to be in the next round and that’s not the case.

“When you look at the performance – analyse everything we’ve worked on all week, things we’ve got on the board, reminders – at half and full-time, we’ve not done any of that.

“Again, a disappointing result and performance.”

With Weymouth having no midweek fixture, Stock worked with his players extensively in training – only to see little of their efforts come to fruition.

He said: “We’ve been working on it all week, so I’m almost at a loss as to why we turned down opportunities to play the ball in behind.

“We’re looking at movements from the strikers to affect the defenders and we turned down the pass and sometimes the run.

“It was probably only until the 55th minute when I saw the wide man come inside and the ball get played down the side of their centre-half.

“I’m thinking: ‘Well, it’s about time.’ So, frustrating.

“Things don’t change, we need to pick up our heads very, very quickly. We’ve got Hartlepool next week and a big week ahead in terms of no game.

“Again, we go to the training ground, we work on one or two things, keep our heads held high.

“Although we’re out – we’ve got downbeat players and the staff are disappointed – it’s not through a lack of effort. We have to dust ourselves down and go again.”

Asked for his assessment of Weymouth’s attacking show, Stock conveyed his frustration.

He said: “We got into some good areas, especially second half, and turned down opportunities to cross the ball.

“Again, I’m scratching my head to understand the reasons why, because we’ve done it really well this year.

“Realistically, we lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

“Not only that, we work on trying to start a game fast and come out with a lot of intensity, pressing, turn their back four and play in their half.

“We didn’t do any of that and that’s a concern for me because we’ve given (the players) as much information as we can.

“We’re still playing balls into midfield when we want to stretch them in behind to start with.

“Yes, we’re a footballing side. We don’t want to come away from that.

“But if we’re not going to be able to keep possession and invite pressure as much as we have, then something’s got to change.”

Stock revealed Weymouth are in talks to bolster the Terras’ attack.

He said: “We are actively speaking to two or three other players – forward-minded players.

“We’ll do our business in private, as we have done with our two recent signings and look to try and improve the squad.”