DORCHESTER Town were unable to make certain of their Blue Square South status after being held to a goal-less draw at Bognor Regis Town.

The Magpies remain five points clear of the drop-zone after 20th-placed Thurrock drew 1-1 at Newport County.

Thurrock hold a game in hand over the county town outfit but must win their final two games to stand any chance of catching Dorchester.

Player-manager Roy O’Brien was less than impressed with his side’s display in the first half at Nyewood Lane but was delighted to see a much-improved showing in the second period.

He said: “It was a good point but towards the end of the game we had a lot of chances. In all I marked down 18 efforts that we had.

“You could look at it as two points dropped I suppose but Bognor played well in the first half whereas we didn’t.

“We had a few words at half-time and we came out a different team in the second half.

“Their keeper made some great saves and you could see it just wasn’t going to happen for us, but I can’t knock the lads or fault them because there was no questioning their effort. We just need to start creating our own luck.

“I was pleased with the second half performance, the first half wasn’t good enough, so on the whole I was delighted with how we finished the game.”

Jamie Gleeson limped off against Bognor but there is hope that defender Gary Bowles, suffering from a knee injury, could return for the Magpies’ final game of the season this Saturday.

O’Brien added: “Gleeson came off with a dead leg. It looked a bit tender but hopefully he’ll be okay. We’ve already got three players out through suspension for this weekend so we’ll have to dig deep.

“However there is a possibility that Bowlesy could be fit. The physio is quietly confident so we’ll have to take it day by day.”

Saturday’s home match with Bromley will be a relaxed affair though if Thurrock fail to beat Braintree Town tomorrow night.

The Magpies’ chief said: “The way things are going right now I wouldn’t be surprised if Thurrock won tomorrow night.

“But a draw or a loss will keep us safe as I understand it.

“We can’t influence that result so we’ll just keep preparing as normal in the week.”