DORCHESTER Town manager Tom Killick rued a missed opportunity as his young Magpies slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Basingstoke Town.

Basingstoke are the first team to beat Dorchester since Gosport earned a 3-0 win at the Avenue Stadium back in January, ending a stunning 12-game unbeaten run.

Dorchester’s slim play-off hopes also went up in smoke but due to Bracknell’s 2-1 victory over champions Chesham, even three points would not have sufficed for Killick’s side.

Liam Ferdinand, previously a target for Dorchester under Robbie Herrera, put Basingstoke ahead after the Magpies missed a catalogue of first-half chances.

READ MORE: Basingstoke Town 3-1 Dorchester Town - report

Ieuan Turner’s first Dorchester goal levelled the scores but Bradley Wilson punished a poor clearance for 2-1 and, with every Magpie committed for a late set-play, Paul Hodges sealed victory with a stupendous long-range finish from his own box.

Speaking to Echosport, Killick voiced his frustration at Dorchester’s lack of clinical edge as they fell to a first away loss in almost five months.

He said: “We always knew it was an outside chance. We really wanted to take it to the last game and get a good occasion.

“We’ve worked so hard to build up the record that we’ve built. There’s just a real feeling of disappointment that we allowed it to slip away from us in a game where that shouldn’t have been the case.

“I thought we were quite comfortable but that was part of the problem. There’s a thin line between confidence and complacency.

“At times, early on in the game, we fell the wrong side of it. Suddenly, they scored out of the blue and they’re enthused and energised. They’ve got something to hang on to.

“We worked really hard to get back into it, and there was only one team likely to have gone on and won it, that would’ve been us but fair play, a brilliant finish from their lad.

“Then we had to commit lot of people forward. It was do or die with the situation we were in.

“The last kick, the lad’s cleared it out of the box and it's gone all the way in. I can’t be too hard on the players when they’ve been on the run they’ve been on.”

Dorchester host AFC Totton this Saturday in their season finale (3pm).