Steve Devlin celebrates his winner

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Dorchester 1 - 0 Thurrock

Vickers: We must catch Fleet cold

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Magpies' hard work finally rewarded

by Ky Capel

Dorchester boss Ashley Vickers believes eight weeks of hard work finally came to fruition in last night’s 1-0 win against Thurrock.

The Magpies registered successive wins in Blue Square South for the first time this season thanks to Steve Devlin’s 78th-minute winner at the Jewson Stadium.

And with the county town side riding on the crest of a wave having gone four games unbeaten, Vickers is adamant their efforts are finally being rewarded.

The caretaker-manager said: “The lads are buoyant and it’s they who take all the credit. I pick a side which I think is right but it’s the lads who deserve all the plaudits as they’re the ones out there.

“Last night was a reward for all their endeavours over the past eight weeks.

“They’ve really applied themselves in every training session, they’ve take on board my thinking and they’re attributes, we’ve brought players in and it all came together last night when I thought we were deserved winners.

“I couldn’t pick out individuals as I’m immensely proud of all of them. They’re a credit to the club.

“If I was a supporter I’d be extremely proud of them and keen to come back and cheer them on again.”

The Magpies dominated the first period and should arguably have put the game to bed by half-time.

Opportunities came and went and Vickers admits he feared a case of deja vu following last week’s 1-1 draw with Lewes – in which the Magpies missed a host of chances.

He added: “Thurrock have got some quality players in their team and they came at us in the second half after their manager gave them a rollicking at half-time. We just felt it was important to maintain our shape and avoid stretching the play as we were doing enough to win the game.

“By and large we matched them in the second half and finally got the goal that we deserved.”

Meanwhile, defender Jake Smeeton, who picked up an ankle injury in Saturday’s win at Weston-super-Mare, is set be sidelined for at least a month.

Vickers said: “He’s taken a flake of bone off his ankle and he’ll be out for four to six weeks I’d imagine, so it’s a blow.

“He got hurt for the cause and the lads appreciate it.”

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