DORCHESTER RESERVES 1

BEMERTON HEATH RES 1

RESERVE-TEAM boss Robbie Taylor was full of praise for his charges despite seeing them held to a draw at home to Bemerton Heath Harlequins.

Alex Godfrey swept home the opener, after a quickly-taken free-kick had caught the visitors off-guard, but the county town dominance failed to yield a crucial second goal.

And a late “wonder strike” saw Bemerton salvage an unlikely Wyvern Premier League point.

Taylor, who gave 90 minutes to his first-team counterpart Ashley Vickers, said: “It was a very good game and there were a lot of comments in the bar afterwards about how nice it was to watch.

“It was played at a high tempo and everyone performed well. I couldn’t pick much fault in anything. The only thing you could perhaps take issue with was the fact we were camped in their half and created lots of chances but didn’t finish them off. To be fair, their keeper made some outstanding saves as well.

“After scoring we dominated the rest of the first half and you would have expected us to come out and get a couple more.

“But the longer the game went on there was always that risk they could nick one, which is what they did in the last five minutes or so. You could argue it was a poor free-kick to give away but it was a wonder strike from their guy.

“We pushed on again and George Kimber hit a superb strike from about 30 yards that hit the woodwork.

“It would have been nice to have won the game with that strike but it wasn’t to be. The lads gave it their all though and it was a great all-round performance.

“We had Ashley Vickers and Kyle Critchell playing at the back and it does help having that experience as it really seemed to spur the lads around them.”

Next up for the reserves is tomorrow’s long trip to the Isle of Wight to take on Newport (3pm).

Taylor added: “With the first team playing as well, we’ll have a very young side, but they are more than capable so I’ve got no concerns.”

Magpies: Floyd, Austin, Critchell (S Walker 70), Vickers, Kimber, Bell, Carlile, A Taylor, Symes, Godfrey, Goodland.