DORCHESTER Town manager Glenn Howes disputed the penalty awarded to Yate in their late 2-1 win over the Magpies, insisting the defeat was a “bitter pill to swallow”.

Howes watched on as Dorchester dominated the first half, Sam Bayston touching home his seventh goal of the season and Billy Lowes rattling the post on the cusp of half-time.

Yate gradually eased back into the game but controversy surrounded the method of their equaliser when Tiago Sa was penalised for a foul in the box – despite appearing to win possession.

And the Magpies felt Olly Mehew was offside from Sam Turl’s pass in the build-up to 2-1, the former then crossing for James Harding to score the winner with nine minutes to go.

Howes picked his words carefully when analysing the officials’ performance.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” he told Echosport.

“When we played Poole, I thought they deserved the points. (Yate) was a complete contrast.

“The players are gutted, we’re gutted. We deserved at least a draw out of that.

“I’ll be careful what I say with the officials and the decisions they’ve made because of the difficult job they have on their hands – as it is coaching and managing players.

“I thought the key decisions went against us. Not in a month of Sundays is it a penalty. Tiago’s won the ball, you could see the ball move, so for us it’s an incorrect decision.

“Then the second goal, their management team agreed in terms of their player being offside.

“We’ve charged up the other end and Ashley Wells is taken out from behind because his man’s the wrong side of him and (the referee) waves play on and doesn’t give a penalty.”

On the penalty decision, Howes added: “That’s the person that’s been punished – you could see Tiago in the dressing room afterwards.

“He felt like he’d let his teammates down, the club down – and he hasn’t at all.

“Referees are only human and us as managers make bad decisions, as players do. You would hope they go and review the footage and think: ‘I’ve got that wrong’.

“We can’t dwell on that. We can’t control the officials, the uncontrollables.

“If Tiago’s in that position again we’d expect him to do exactly as he’s done. He’s been brilliant in one-on-one situations. We’re not going to penalise one of our players for making the correct decision.”

Assessing the match further, Howes said: “It’s really difficult. They didn’t create an awful lot and didn’t break us down.

“We didn’t create huge amounts but we were good for the goal. We started really well then Yate had a bit of possession and second half we were hemmed in.

“After that, we were still a threat on the counter and we deserved something out of the game.”