DORCHESTER Town manager Glenn Howes blamed a lack of cutting edge in the final third as the Magpies fell to a 2-0 defeat at North Leigh.

Going into the game, bottom side North Leigh were eight points adrift of Hartley Wintney in 21st but defied their league position with a hearty performance.

In an end-to-end opening, the Millers netted first when Jordan Thomas skipped past the Dorchester defence to score in the 14th minute.

And Levi Steele bagged a second 20 minutes later, tapping home Lance Williams’ cross.

READ MORE: North Leigh 2-0 Dorchester Town - how it happened

Dorchester had clear chances to halve the deficit through Shaq Gwengwe, Alfie Stanley and Kieran Douglas, but the hosts held firm to consign the Magpies to a third-straight league loss.

Asked whether Dorchester had created enough chances for his liking, having also drawn a blank at Tiverton on Saturday, Howes told Echosport: “Not necessarily, that is a bit of a frustration.

“It’s difficult to create, play through and round when you go to environments like Tiverton and North Leigh.

“You have to find other ways of breaking the back line, whether that be a set-piece or a shot from distance. Sometimes you can’t have combinations and connections.

“That’s something we really need to work on and develop. Albeit, we felt Alfie, Shaq and Kieran had good opportunities.

“If you’re not going to create plenty, you certainly need to be ruthless and have that clinical edge in the box.”

Howes insisted Dorchester’s reaction to the Tiverton defeat was positive, praising his players for their attitude.

He said: “The most important thing was the performance, endeavour, work ethic and application to be able to put in a shift for the club.

“I felt we did that. We huffed, we puffed but we couldn’t produce the kind of quality we’re used to in terms of breaking North Leigh down.

“Credit to them, they were very well organised and produced a good performance.

“Could our quality have been better? Could we have been more organised in terms of the two goals?

“Yes, we definitely could’ve been but there was definitely a reaction, that was for sure.”

Dorchester host Hanwell on Saturday (3pm).