DORCHESTER TOWN 2

Gwengwe 24, Spetch 77

BEACONSFIELD TOWN 1

Fletcher 72 og

DORCHESTER Town turned one point into three with a richly merited 2-1 victory over Beaconsfield Town at the Avenue Stadium.

In the original fixture, the sides were locked at 1-1 before freezing fog forced the game’s abandonment midway through the second half.

But Dorchester barely gave the Rams a sniff in the first half of the re-run, Shaq Gwengwe showing his lethal finishing for 1-0.

The Magpies spurned more openings and were pegged back when Will Fletcher bundled Jacques Kpohomouh’s effort into his own net with 18 minutes left.

READ MORE: Dorchester Town 2-1 Beaconsfield Town - how it happened

However, the match’s stand-out performer Will Spetch nodded home a Corby Moore corner off the bar to give the Magpies a valuable three points, moving them up two spots to 17th.

Dorchester are now seven points clear of the drop zone, although 19th-placed Plymouth Parkway have a whopping seven games in hand.

Dorchester made only one change to the starting XI from the 4-4 draw at AFC Totton 10 days ago as Fletcher was favoured at the expense of Drew Eccott-Young.

Beaconsfield came into the game with three consecutive wins but the Rams were made to look ordinary by the forcefulness of Dorchester’s start.

Olaf Koszela curled a second-minute free-kick wide before Jack Dickson opted not to shoot after a trademark darting run from the right.

Spetch, a thorn in Beaconsfield’s side from set-pieces all afternoon, then headed wide a golden chance in the ninth minute from Moore’s pinpoint corner into the near-post region.

Beaconsfield’s first foray into the Dorchester half came in the 16th minute when Magpies’ skipper Jordan Ngalo was penalised and James Dobson curled over from 20 yards.

But Dorchester deservedly took the lead in the 24th minute when quick passing on the transition allowed Koszela to slide a pass to Gwengwe, unmarked 20 yards out, for a fabulous first-time effort into the bottom-left corner.

Dorchester nearly made it 2-0 three minutes later when a training-ground routine at a corner worked an opening for Spetch, who peeled away from his marker only to blast wide.

Beaconsfield were by now clinging on as the Magpies threatened to score in every attack, Koszela the latest to try his luck when volleying over from 30 yards.

To their credit, the visitors improved in the second half and nearly found a fortuitous equaliser when Daniel Roth’s deflected shot span wide of the far post.

Dorchester responded with two venomous shots on target from Moore and Dickson before the Magpies hit the bar.

Marcus Daws won a corner and Moore’s accuracy from the set-play troubled Beaconsfield once more as Spetch bustled his way into the box only to nod against the bar.

And in the 72nd minute it seemed as if Dorchester’s misses would haunt them as Beaconsfield scored an extremely fortunate goal.

Kpohomouh found space at the back post and was able to thread a shot at goal from a tight angle past keeper Jameson Horlick.

Fletcher was stationed on the goalline but got his feet tangled up and first nudged the ball goalwards before hacking a desperate attempted clearance in off the post.

Any embarrassment for a player with seven goals this season was short-lived as Dorchester retook the lead five minutes later.

Inevitably, it was Spetch as the towering centre-back was finally rewarded with a goal, heading home Moore’s corner in off the bar for 2-1.

Dorchester came close to a third goal when Rams’ sub Ben van Aurich made an improbable clearance off the line.

The Magpies faced Beaconsfield pressure late on as Asher Yearwood lashed wide from 20 yards but otherwise the hosts received no further alarm, extending to four matches their unbeaten streak.

Tom Killick’s men have only been beaten once in nine league matches and travel to Tiverton Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Magpies: Horlick, Dickson, Haste, Spetch, Ngalo, James, Daws (Waterfield 80), Moore, Fletcher, Gwengwe (Efedje 65), Koszela (Turner 90+3). Subs not used: Eccott-Young, Toms.

Beaconsfield: Rowley, Wilson (Pelliccia 87), Neville, Kpohomouh, Bradshaw (Jarzabek 90+3), Yearwood, Dobson, English, Roth, McElroy, Fraser (van Aurich 80). Subs not used: Gosling, Dymott.

Referee: Anthony Smith.

Attendance: 587.