DORCHESTER boss Mark Morris called his side's shock reverse by strugglers Maidenhead "one of the worst performances I have been associated with since I have been here."

The Magpies, looking to end their abysmal home form with a win that could have catapulted them into the top half of the table, saw their unbeaten run in the Conference South come to a halt after they had taken the lead through Justin Keeler's penalty on the stroke of half-time.

"There was a lack of passion and a lack of application and I thought seven or eight of my players looked as though they had just run two London mara-thons back-to-back," said Morris.

"We looked dead on our feet and apart from Alex Browne, Scott Morgan and Jamie Brown who at least had a go, the rest were well below what we know they can be.

"It was right out of the blue because we have had a good little run and I thought we would give it a right go today to try and get up the league.

"But if you can't pass the ball you are not going to get anywhere. We must have given the ball away more times today than we have done in the past six games.

"On top of that our application, our knowledge of football and our team work were all poor. It was a bad day and I can't disguise the fact that we have missed a big opportunity today to get into the top half of the table.

"Maidenhead were first to every ball and when they passed the ball we were nowhere near them - and I can't think of a time in the game when we passed the ball well."

Morris used all three subs, including giving Glenn Howes his first taste of action since he was injured nearly a month ago, in a bid to lift his side out of the doldrums in the second half.

"I made some changes to try and get some spark into our game, but there just wasn't any spark to be had," he said.

"Maidenhead weren't that good, but they took their chances well and we almost invited them to play well because there was no pressure on them. How many times for instance have you seen Mark Jermyn play a game of football without tackling anyone? He is usually one of the soldiers in midfield but he looked out on his feet today and he

wasn't alone by any means.

"I said to the lads afterwards, we all know we are a lot better than that. These things happen now and again and we have to pick ourselves up and I can only hope we play with a bit more passion against Havant and Waterlooville on Tuesday night."

Morris said he was surprised Maidenhead's

keeper Scott Tarr avoided a red card when he brought down Matt Groves to concede the penalty, but he didn't think the defeat could be blamed on that.

"On a day like today whatever decisions the referee makes I can have little to say about it because my players made so many bad decisions.

"The referee's made one bad decision and if my team had just made one then it might have been a talking point, but we just weren't at the races."