Mark Robinson is challenged for the ball
DORCHESTER TOWN
1	Darren Behcet
2	Mark Jermyn
3	Nathan Simpson
4	Wes Fogden
5	Alex Browne
6	Gary Bowles
7	James Rowe		63
8	Jamie Gleeson
9	Jones Awuah
10	Ivan Forbes		54
11	Mark Robinson		83
Substitutes
12	Roy O'Brien
14	Nathan Peprah Annan		83
15	Elliot Bent		54
16	Jon Docker		63
17	Charlie Henry
.
BRAINTREE TOWN
1	Nicky Morgan
2	Steve Good
3	Mark Jones
4	Billy Burgess
5	Ian Cousins
6	Brad Quinton
7	Robbie Martin		45
8	Micky Shinn
9	James Baker		26
10	Chris Sullivan
11	Louis Riddle		88
Substitutes
12	James Hawes		26
14	Leon Archer		45
15	Eugene Ofori		88
16	Liam Bailey
17	Trevor Paul
.
Referee
Wade Norcott (Harlow)
.

Saturday 27th October 2007
		Braintree Town	1
		Riddle 74
		Dorchester Town	0

Riddle baffles the Magpies

by Terry Spracklen

Dorchester had director of football Shaun Brooks ordered to the stand and unused substitute Charlie Henry sent-off as they went down to another Blue Square South defeat.

It was a story of missed chances as the Magpies slipped up against fellow strugglers Braintree Town at Cressing Road.

Both sides were in desperate need of a win to help them push away from the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the table.

The Essex side paraded new manager Lee Patterson before the game.

His Dorchester counterpart, Shaun Brooks, made three changes to the side that failed to beat lowly Bognor Regis on Tuesday as Mark Robinson replaced Charlie Henry, Gary Bowles came in for Roy O'Brien and Jon Docker made way for James Rowe.

The home side looked nervous as the Magpies seized the initiative from the kick-off.

Ivan Forbes and strike partner Jones Awuah looked as if they were ready to give the Iron defence a busy afternoon.

The Magpies should have made a lot more of their positive start to the game as they carved out some good openings inside the first 10 minutes.

Awuah was first to react to a flick on, he easily went past one defender but his poor pass and Mark Robinson's poor first touch allowed Braintree defender Steve Good to intervene.

Moments later Robinson fed Awuah with an incisive pass to send the striker racing through on goal but Irons' skipper Ian Cousins was there with a last ditch tackle.

Dorchester's inability to press home their territorial advantage was nearly punished on 17 minutes when Chris Sullivan took the ball on the halfway line and powered towards goal.

Full-back Nathan Simpson failed to deal with the situation as Sullivan breached the 18-yard box but fortunately his shot was straight at keeper Darren Behcet.

The visitors allowed the impressive Louis Riddle to muscle his way through on goal but Alex Browne threw his body in the way of Riddle's goal-bound drive.

The Magpies' front-line of Awuah and Forbes were feeding off scraps but Awuah after some slick passing in midfield found the ball at his feet just inside the area, a lovely turn left the defence for dead but his finishing let him down as he pulled his shot wide.

Elliot Bent replaced the ineffective Forbes up front while Jon Docker entered the fray on 63 minutes to add some guile in midfield.

The turning point in the game was on 66 minutes following a mix-up between Cousins and Micky Shinn, Awuah found himself clean through on goal but he failed to punish the home side as his tame effort was saved by keeper Nicky Morgan's legs.

On 73 minutes Dorchester were punished as Braintree found Riddle who appeared to stay onside despite the protests of the Magpies' defence, the Iron man went straight for goal and rounded Behcet to score.

The Dorchester bench wanted an offside flag which did not appear.

After consulting his assistant, referee Norcott asked Brooks to leave the pitch and then sent off unused substitute Henry for what you can only assume was dissent towards the linesman for not giving offside.

It seemed that whoever scored the first goal would back themselves to take all three points in this scrappy encounter which was low on quality.

Just one win in the last seven league games for the Magpies will surely send alarm bells ringing in the ears of Brooks as his side sit one point off the drop zone.