DORCHESTER Town assistant boss James Wood admitted “we’re not quite there yet” after the Magpies drew 1-1 with Frome Town at the Avenue Stadium.

Dorchester needed a 90th-minute Shaq Gwengwe penalty to cancel out Jon Davies’ opener for Frome in what was the fourth pre-season friendly for Glenn Howes’ men.

In the build-up to the match, Howes revealed Dorchester would now ‘ramp up’ their preparations and Wood felt promotion-chasing Frome provided the perfect platform to do so.

He told Dorchester’s media team: “They’re a very good Frome side, we’ve come up against them many times before.

READ MORE: Dorchester Town 1-1 Frome Town - report

“They’re a very well-organised, well-drilled side. They’ve got some very good players so we knew it was going to be a very tough test.

“I thought they were excellent and I thought we were good at times. We’re not quite there yet, we know that. It’s still relatively early in pre-season for us.

“We have to ramp things up a little bit because before we know it the season’s going to be upon us.

“We’re at that 70, 75-minute mark at the moment. We’re not quite there for the full 90.

“Having said that, I thought we started the game well and then went a goal behind.

“We created chances, which was good, and there was a lot of plusses. It’s just bringing it all together now, which will come in the next few weeks.”

Asked for the biggest positives in Dorchester’s play, Wood replied: “I thought we looked organised.

“Whereas, in the last few friendlies a few of the players have been at the 45-minute mark, you can see they’re now stepping it up.

“We created probably six or seven really good chances and on another day you take two or three of those, then the game’s dead and buried.

“We’re just pleased it was competitive and a very well-run friendly.”

Tomorrow evening (7.45pm), Dorchester take another step up in their preparations this summer when hosting Yeovil Town at the Avenue.