DORCHESTER Town boss Callum Brooks reflected on a first-half showing he perceived as “inept” as Salisbury recorded a 4-1 win in their BetVictor Southern Premier South clash at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium.

Brooks’ men were penalised for a sluggish start as former Magpies’ striker Toby Holmes scored twice in the space of 10 minutes.

Dorchester created plenty of chances either side of half-time but had to wait until Tom Bath notched his maiden goal for the club from the spot in the 58th minute.

Further opportunities followed for the vastly improved Magpies but, when captain Dan Strugnell conceded a penalty, Dorchester fell 3-1 behind when George Colson powered the spot-kick through the fingertips of Shane Murphy.

And Murphy was at fault for the fourth as a shot from Colson squirmed from his clutches and over the line to complete a slightly flattering scoreline for the Whites.

Speaking to Echosport, Brooks did not hide his disappointment at the start his side made against Steve Claridge’s men.

He said: “As much as they made a decent start, our first-half performance was very, very disappointing. Parts of it were inept.

“You won’t get away with that at this level, but you certainly won’t get away with conceding a half to sides like this.

“We missed good opportunities at key times, which culminated in a disappointing afternoon. Other than half an hour we didn’t really show what we can do.”

Asked to identify a reason for the poor start, Brooks said: “In the first half it would be hard to pinpoint exactly.

“The basics weren’t right. We gave them miles too much space, there were people being allowed to turn in the box, their midfielders ran past our midfielders.

“When the game screamed out for a bit of calmness or us to put three or four passes together, we passed it straight to them.

“The quality was so far off in the first half, it was difficult to pinpoint. Obviously that was the crux of our conversation at half-time.

“There were some positive elements, but I’m not going to hide behind the fact that there were parts of that which were a million miles away from where we want to be.”