DORCHESTER Town assistant-boss James Wood stressed the need for improved performance levels after the Magpies beat pointless Swindon Supermarine 2-1 at a baking Avenue Stadium.

Supermarine suffered a seventh-straight loss but only after Ryan Campbell’s deflected 10th-minute goal put the Wiltshire side 1-0 up.

With Dorchester lacking any kind of fluency, rhythm or potency they suddenly sparked into life when Leighton Thomas scored a sublime volley from Jordi Foot’s throw-in.

For the next ten minutes, Dorchester dominated and Shaq Gwengwe was felled in the box before the striker converted the resulting penalty for 2-1.

READ MORE: Dorchester Town 2-1 Swindon Supermarine - report

Ed Williams hit the post late on for Marine, whose caretaker boss Rhys Evans was sent off after being pushed at neck height by Dorchester coach Brian Churchill, who also saw red.

However, Wood made it clear that a repeat of Dorchester’s largely poor display will not be tolerated again.

He told Echosport: “To be perfectly honest, the three points is very important. The situation we’re in at the moment we need to start picking up points.

“So, there’s a certain amount of enjoyment that we’ve turned that around and got three points. For possibly 15 minutes of that game we’ve shown a bit of character and desire to win a match.

“But, to be quite honest, for 70 minutes of that game the performance is not acceptable.

“The players have been told that, they’ve been told that at half-time and that’s been reaffirmed after the game that that simply is not acceptable.

“They have to start taking responsibility for their performances. They have to have a belief in what they’re doing.

“This week in training was excellent, probably one of the best weeks we’ve had in, they were under no disillusions about their movements, detail, their jobs.

“Then there was almost, with this young group, a little bit of freezing and bravery that was lacking.

“They’ve got to go out and express themselves, be brave, stand up and be counted.”

Wood added: “We will always protect this group because we know it is a young group and there is so much potential.

“But for 70 minutes it was not acceptable. We cannot see any more performances like that. That point has been made very clear.

“They’ve also been praised for that 15-minute spell where they showed up and suddenly decided to start playing with a bit of urgency and desire, bravery.

“That’s what we asked. Me and Glenn (Howes, boss) can accept mistakes. That’s part and parcel of football, but in the first place you’ve got to be brave enough to put yourself in that situation.

“There was a real lack of that and that was not acceptable. That will have to change, and it will.”

Dorchester travel to Hungerford Town tomorrow evening (7.45pm).