ROY O’Brien believes Tom Mitchell may finally have won over his critics after scoring the goal that saved Dorchester from relegation.

Mitchell’s first goal for the club proved to be a winning one as the Magpies beat Bromley 2-1 at the Jewson Stadium on Saturday.

Had the county town side dropped points then they would have been relegated as Thurrock, who are now condemned to the drop as a result, defeated Bath City in their final game.

Mitchell has come in for a lot of criticism ever since he signed for the Magpies when his father Eddie became the club’s majority shareholder in the summer of 2007.

But he silenced the doubters with a crucial goal at a crucial time. O’Brien said: “Tom doesn’t want to be treated any differently so for him to score the winning goal I’m delighted. I believe he’s won a few fans over, especially with the free-kick he had that hit the crossbar in the second half. He’s done well and people need to stop thinking that he’s just the owner’s son, he’s his own player.

“The goal was a brave header as there were studs coming in at him. It’s his first for the club and I’m chuffed to bits for him.

“It’s almost a fairytale ending. He’s been getting better and better so to get the goal he must be delighted.”

It looked set to be a doom and gloom story for the Magpies after they fell behind inside two minutes on Saturday – Warren McBean converting from the spot after being tripped by Jake Smeeton.

But a Jamie Gleeson equaliser, followed by Mitchell’s effort, secured victory and survival for the hosts.

O’Brien added: “We didn’t want to know what was going on in the Thurrock game because we couldn’t influence it. We just had to concentrate on what we had to do. After a couple of minutes you’re left thinking that everything’s gone out of the window but the lads deserved it in the end. They did the business in a crucial game.”

O’Brien also paid tribute to Ivan Forbes’ performance and a match-saving tackle from Smeeton late on.

He said: “It was a magnificent tackle and it saved us when you look at it that way. Ivan was different class and he is the sort of player we’ve been missing all season.”