WEYMOUTH manager Mark Molesley lamented a crucial missed foul on Corey Panter as Maidstone United claimed a 2-0 victory at the Gallagher Stadium.

Sam Corne’s header put Maidstone ahead inside three minutes but the Terras were then penalised when Panter brought down Sol Wanjau-Smith.

However, Weymouth felt Panter had been fouled by Wanjau-Smith before the centre-back brought the Maidstone forward down in the box.

The result was a penalty scored by Corne in the 13th minute, effectively giving Weymouth a mountain to climb against a side already confirmed in the Vanarama National League South play-offs.

READ MORE: Maidstone United 2-0 Weymouth - report

Speaking to Echosport, Molesley had no complaints about the penalty decision but felt play should not have progressed to that stage.

He said: “It was a spot-kick but Corey’s pulled him back because he was fouled first.

“That’s our disappointment, that Corey was in front of the ball, he got pulled round and the striker got in front of him, he’s returned the favour.

“We were disappointed that we felt it was a foul our way. Half the deficit, 1-0, is a lot tighter scoreline. They had the two-goal cushion very early on which made it an uphill task.

“At 1-0 it’s a little bit of a different game. Fair play to the lads, at that stage everything was going wrong and we could’ve folded, but we didn’t.

“We got stronger as the game went on. We just need to work on that start and commit to our process a little bit more which will hopefully happen the more time we have with each other.

“I’m really enjoying my time her but it’s also very frustrating. I’ve had an hour and a half with the boys, getting to know their names and a few other bits. It’s just game, game, game.

“There’s no real training time and you’re just trying to prepare for that next one.

“It’s certainly not going to be polished but what you are looking for is the attitude of the lads and how they react to setbacks, these tough little moments.

“These are all letting me learn a lot about the group and we’re learning a lot about ourselves.”

Molesley also conceded the opening 15 minutes was not up to standard.

“We just didn’t start well enough,” he admitted.

“As a manager, you’ve got to take your part of the responsibility. I probably didn’t get them to believe enough in the game plan, we probably gave them a little bit more guidance than we did Saturday after seeing some positives.

“We probably didn’t quite execute that how we would like.

“Going away to a high-flying Maidstone with a strong following behind that goal, we were probably masters of our own downfall.

“We were a bit startled, a bit rabbit in the headlights. We’re starting to let them express themselves and see where they are.

“We lacked a little bit of intent and that was our undoing. Two poor goals from our point of view, that really gave them the ascendancy and a lift.

“Having said that, the boys rallied and got themselves back on script. We finished the half really strong and second half was a really even affair.

“If you take the first 15 minutes out of it, which was a great learning curve, that’s what I want to see, when things go wrong and what we do.

“I was pleased with the reaction but there’s plenty of opportunity to learn and grow.”

Weymouth visit Welling United on Saturday in their third successive lengthy trip (3pm).