INTERIM boss Paul Maitland offered to take responsibility for the Terras’ 1-0 FA Trophy loss to Dartford on Saturday.

Weymouth lost 1-0 to Step 2 opposition in the fourth round for the second season running, following defeat to Darlington in the 2020/21 campaign.

Jack Jebb’s 15th-minute cracker was enough for National League South side Dartford to seal victory, aided by Dan Wilks’ superb late save from Tyler Cordner.

And with the match being the first since ex-boss Brian Stock’s departure in midweek, Maitland took the blame for the loss, rather than the players.

He told Echosport: “I’ll take the blame for the defeat, no pressure on them. They’ve been magnificent since Brian’s departure on Wednesday.

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READ MORE: Dartford 1-0 Weymouth - match report

“I couldn’t ask any more of them. They’ve expressed and represented themselves really well.

“They should take the positives of the second half into the remainder of the season. If they do, then they’ve got a great opportunity to move up the table.

“I’m really proud of the way we went for (Dartford) in the second half. We didn’t let it fizzle out and tried to make changes with our substitutions.

“We just kept pressing forward. It’s hard to take because it’s another defeat but that second half I hope showed the players and fans that travelled that there are some positive shoots there and we can kick on.

“It was just the final touch on a lot of things.

“There were lots of positives after what has been an incredibly difficult week for the club.”