SCOTT Symes believes Dorchester Town are reaping the rewards of the appointment of Tom Killick as manager.

Killick came in to manage the Magpies after previous boss Glenn Howes abdicated the throne in September.

Howes was the instigator of the move for Killick, who was fresh from being sacked by Poole Town after 19 years in charge of the Dolphins.

And the move looks to have worked for all parties as, after a patchy start, the Magpies have moved out of the bottom four and are gunning for the top half by the season’s end.

READ MORE: AFC Totton 4-4 Dorchester Town - report

Commenting on the revived positive atmosphere at the Avenue Stadium, Symes told Echosport: “It’s something we’ve been working towards for five years.

“Towards the end of when Glenn came in for his first season, we saw glimpses home and away of getting fantastic support and the ground buzzing every time you walked in.

“It’s carried on from there. The biggest contributor to that is the first team winning games. Even if you lose, the football is up there and you’re not losing by silly margins. It’s fantastic.

“Totton away, the support was unreal for an away game and it no doubt played a part in the result (4-4) at the end.”

On Killick’s appointment, Symes added: “Obviously, at the time, it was documented that Glenn had talked about it being a good thing to do.

“When we met with Tom, it just made sense. The only thing was, when we did that, he’s going to want to make some fairly significant change in terms of personnel. That was clear from the start.

“No negativity towards the players that were there, but he’s going to come in and see things in a different way from Glenn.

“One thing we haven’t done is, if we needed to make a change, we didn’t take time. We did that swiftly and brought in quality personnel through that change.

“I’ve seen managers before, they’ll change a player for a player and it’s the same as what they’ve had before but with a different haircut, so to speak.”