DORCHESTER Town manager Glenn Howes blamed a dismal start as the Magpies slid to a 3-0 defeat at Plymouth Parkway.

Howes’ men found themselves 2-0 down inside ten minutes as ex-Dorchester loanee Ben Seymour, at Exeter in League Two last season, scored before Rio Garside’s long-range rocket.

Seymour added his second on 48 minutes as Dorchester again began a half poorly.

Chances for Harvey-Joe Bertrand and sub Alfie Stanley then came and went as Dorchester suffered a fourth straight loss at Bolitho Park.

Speaking to Echosport, Howes said: “It’s disappointing, after the excitement from Saturday and the play we produced we were a bit distant from that.

READ MORE: Plymouth Parkway 3-0 Dorchester Town - report

“It’s hard to put our finger on why at this moment. We were 2-0 after (ten) minutes and regrettably the game is almost concluded by that point.

“It was a real uphill struggle to get ourselves back in the game and unfortunately we couldn’t quite manage that. We understand the start of the game has really cost us.”

When put to him the match bore similarities to the 2-0 defeat at North Leigh last week, Howes replied: “In some circumstances, yes, I would agree.

“You look at the similarities, the pitch, the environment. We have to do better in these arenas if we are to move this group forwards.

“It’s something that eludes us at this moment. It’s because we’re (away), not on our pitch, when we have to adapt our game we can’t quite come to the solutions we require.

“That’s where we’re falling short and we’re doing all we can to improve that.”

Had tiredness become a factor in Dorchester’s recent patchy form? Howes said: “I’m not sure.

“Arguably some teams have bigger squads but we’re certainly not going to look for excuses, we’ll look for solutions.

“We’ll look and reflect in the summer. We can switch maybe one or two positions but unfortunately that’s all we’re able to do.

“We went with the same 11 as we felt that was the right thing to do rather than rotate and freshen the squad up.

“We did have a long pre-season schedule, we played up to ten games, so we played more games than other teams. The load on the players is probably more.

“However, we’ve got a fit, good-conditioned group. I don’t think fatigue is why we didn’t perform to our best.”

Asked what was going through his mind when Parkway scored three minutes into the second half, Howes said: “It’s a difficult way to start the second half.

“What’s going through our mind? It’s a fantastic question. There’s a lot of anger, that’s for sure.

“You have to try and bring a bit of composure but it’s not ideal conceding immediately as you start the second half.

“We felt if we could get one, as we always do, that we could get ourselves back in the game.

“Ben Seymour was playing in the Football League last year, he’s a great player with great movement.

“These are the challenges and tasks these young players are up against. For several of our players it’s their debut season in Step 3.

“They’re producing and doing extremely well but there are moments they’ve got to do better.

“They want to challenge themselves against the likes of Ben Seymour.”

Dorchester continue their league campaign at home to Bracknell Town on Saturday (3pm).