DARREN Patterson said that the only positive he could take out of Satur-day’s 0-0 draw with Dor-chester was the fact his side are still in the FA Cup.

And he admitted that United got a lucky break when the linesman ruled out Dorchester’s 93rd-minute winner for handball.

It was a decision that amazed his counterpart, Shaun Brooks, and was the talking point of the 3,196 crowd as they made their way home.

“We obviously all thought we had lost it at the end there and have got a lucky break,” Patterson said.

“I couldn’t tell you if it was the correct decision or not, I didn’t have the best view.

“But certainly it would have been very hard to take because once again we should have been out of sight by the time the game got to injury time.

“We created a number of great chances in the first half and I don’t think that anyone could have grumbled if we had gone into half-time two or three goals ahead.

“We missed two or three golden opportunities and you just cannot afford to keep doing that.”

Dorchester boss Brooks could not believe the decision.

“The linesman has given handball, but I am not sure how,” he said.

“You could have maybe understood it if he was offside, but to have it ruled out for handball is very strange to say the least.

"It looked a perfectly good goal to me.

"I have spoken to Ryan Moss, and he is as honest as they come and says he did not handle it, and I believe him.

"We have drawn away to a team in a higher league than us, and are in the hat for the second round, but the dressing room was very downbeat afterwards."

Patterson added: “Some of the senior pros here have got to take a good, hard look at themselves after that display.

“Some were running around like headless chickens out there, and it just isn’t acceptable.

“Some people think that they only need to perform for 45 minutes, but I am not having that any more.

“However, I would like to give Dorchester some credit because they worked extre-mely hard and made life difficult for us.

“We have been given a second chance and we now have to make the most of that and go to their place and ensure we get a result and put everything right.

“We are obviously disappointed with the draw, but we have to all stay positive because we are still in the competition.”