Dorchester tasted opening-day defeat for the first time in five years as they went down at the hands of Bromley.

The Magpies made a great start though when they opened the scoring after just seven minutes at Hayes Lane thanks to a superb set-piece from the pin-point boot of Ryan Hill.

However, they were pegged back just past the half-hour when Wes Daly’s shot deflected in off team-mate Paul Vines, deceiving visiting gloveman Regan Coward.

And the comeback was complete 18 minutes from time as substitute Warren McBean headed home Tony Finn’s free-kick.

Matt Groves had struck a post earlier in the game, but then failed to convert the rebound, while both sides missed the chance to add to their tallies through wasted spot-kicks.

Nic McDonnell blazed over for the hosts before Hill was denied by keeper Jamie Butler.

Despite the 2-1 loss, Dorchester boss Ashley Vickers remained upbeat. He said: “It wasn’t a good result but I can’t stress how unfortunate we were. I think Regan Coward had one save to make in the entire game.

“We took the lead thanks to a great free-kick from Ryan, they came back into it and scored a lucky goal which took a deflection and wrong-footed Regan, while their second came from their only foray into our half in the second period.

“Our lads competed all over the pitch and were better in every area. Bromley have spent a bit of money in getting players but we were more than a match for them.

“We gave them a good game and I’m dumbfounded as it was one of the most one-sided games I’ve seen. We will play worse than that in future and win.

“I’m not downbeat at all, not in the slightest. The result is a kick in the teeth in terms of the nature of it but the lads did themselves proud.

“They did all that we asked of them and on another day we will get our rewards.”

The Blue Square Bet South encounter was not without controversy as the Magpies felt hard done by when Coward was adjudged to have brought down McDonnell in the box, resulting in a penalty for the home side.

However, justice was done when, with the match tied at 1-1, McDonnell skied his effort over the bar.

The Magpies were awarded a spot-kick of their own after Jerrome Sobers fouled Ryan Moss and was subsequently sent off having picked up his second yellow.

Hill though, saw his shot saved and Dorchester, who brought on Stuart Douglas for his competitive debut, were denied a share of the spoils.

Vickers was left frustrated by the performance of referee Chris Hicks, adding: “Their penalty was never a penalty – Regan got the ball but the ref deemed it a penalty. Ours was a stonewall penalty and their man was rightly sent off, but the keeper made a good save from Ryan to be fair.

“We still had chances after that penalty miss and on another day we would have come away with something.

“Their keeper also handled outside his area but the referee didn’t give it. In fact he didn’t give us anything all game and it felt like we were playing against 12 men at times.

“Every single one of our players was excellent and I couldn’t have asked for any more from them.”

Bromley: Butler, Graves, Dunk, Daly, Scarborough, Sobers, Finn, Henriques, Vines (Boyle), McDonnell (McBean), Dolby. Subs not used: Jordan, Jones, Fray.

Magpies: Coward, R Hill, Critchell, Jermyn, Walker, K Hill, Crittenden (Coutts 70), Gleeson, Moss, Groves (Douglas 70), Devlin. Subs not used: Evans, Martin, Frampton. Attendance: 412