DORCHESTER Town are hoping to drag more teams into the Pitching In Southern League Premier South relegation mix this weekend.
Tom Killick’s men tomorrow entertain Hendon at the Avenue Stadium (3pm) looking to record back-to-back wins for only the second time this season.
Dorchester were hugely impressive in their 3-1 win at Bracknell on Saturday and have the chance to repeat January’s feat, when Merthyr and Harrow were toppled in successive games.
The three points gained at Bracknell hauled Dorchester up three places to 17th and now teams such as Basingstoke, Poole and Sholing, in 11th to 13th, lie only a maximum of seven points above the Magpies.
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And, with more teams beginning to look over their shoulder in a closely-matched bottom half, Killick is keen to keep the pressure up.
He told Echosport: “Yeah, it’s unbelievably tight in terms of that bottom half. There’s an awful lot of teams looking over their shoulders.
“We just need to see if we can add to our tally, enhance our own position and increase the pressure on the others.
“What you can’t do is get ahead of yourself and be a bit below par on the next occasion.
“You’ve got to make sure the reaction is positive in terms of enhancing your belief but not diminishing the awareness of what gained us that (Bracknell) result.
“Whenever you’re in a pressured situation at the bottom of the table, an away win against one of the better sides in the league is always going to be a big boost.”
Killick has often addressed inconsistency for Dorchester this season, with the Magpies suffering heavy home defeats amid excellent wins over the likes of Merthyr and Bracknell.
He added: “If you listen to managers, people get bored by it because it probably the most repeated word that anyone ever hears – consistency. It’s what everyone’s striving for.
“Most players in the league are capable of having good days but the true gauge of a player’s ability is the number of good days they’re able to have over the course of a season.
“That really does separate the good players to the also-rans and the good teams to the also-rans. It’s having the mentality to produce good performances on a consistent basis.
“You can watch any team, any player on a given day and they’re capable of high performance levels. It’s how often they can repeat it that’s always going to be the key.
“We feel we’re moving in the right direction in terms of recruiting and having the squad that contains players that are capable of performing at the level we need on a consistent enough basis.
“It’s never going to be every game but it’s got to be a big number of games. I feel in terms of the make-up of the squad we’re moving in the right direction.
“The only way we can prove that to other people is by continuing to get some good results.”
Dorchester have already played Hendon this season, losing 1-0 late on at Silver Jubilee Park.
However, Killick has also drawn 2-2 with the Greens while managing Poole in August.
He continued: “I must admit, I played them at home for Poole in the second game and we drew and probably didn’t deserve to. They were better than us on the day.
“I remember thinking how much better they were than the previous season. They were full of powerful, athletic players in key areas.
“I was just very impressed. Based on that performance, it’s no surprise they’re having a much better season coupled with an exceptional run in the FA Trophy. They’ve got a very talented squad.”
Killick’s touchline ban is now over, while Will Fletcher (face) is expected to be fit in time.
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