DORCHESTER Town boss Glenn Howes rued the timing of Chesham United’s opening goal as the Magpies slipped to a 2-0 defeat at The Meadow.

Dorchester went 1-0 down inside two minutes as a clever corner routine allowed Jeanmal Prosper to score at the back post.

Keith Emmerson and Shaq Gwengwe worked home keeper Dante Baptiste in response but former Crawley striker Ricardo German buried a finish high into the net before half-time for 2-0.

Chesham had a Shaq Hippolyte-Patrick goal disallowed for offside and the hosts were rarely troubled in the second half as the play-off contenders closed out three points.

READ MORE: Chesham United 2-0 Dorchester Town - report

Speaking to Echosport, Howes admitted the early goal had put his side on the back foot.

“It’s disappointing, you can’t hide behind that,” he said. “And the manner in which we conceded, from a well-worked set-piece.

“There was a significant delay before we took that corner. We had an opportunity to get ourselves set.

“Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition in terms of how they execute it. Their runs, their timing and the movement was extremely good.

“All of a sudden, you find yourselves 1-0 down so you have to settle and prepare yourselves because they’re a very good side.”

He added: “We were pleased with our reaction. Sometimes when you concede so early the scoreline can be exceptionally high.

“We felt we did settle down and the gameplan, I don’t think we deviated from that too much. We continued with our focus and concentration to break Chesham down.”

Howes also paid credit to Chesham’s potent strike force following the second goal.

He said: “You aim to stop them and set out to distort their play and affect their rhythm.

“They have such different permutations in terms of that front three, front four that they can set out and make changes to the game.

“You have to give the opposition some adulation because of the respect they deserve.

“You look at the pedigree and profile of their players. It’s a brilliant experience for your Jordis (Foot), Louie Sloughs, and Jake Grazianos.

“It shows you what you need to be at and want to be at to push on and compete against teams like this.

“Selfishly, individually, that’s how good they have to want to be if they want to further their careers and play higher than Step 3.”

Dorchester host Poole Town on Monday (3pm).