SWANAGE Town and Herston manager Paul Whitton expects his side to be docked three Magna Dorset Premier League points after they missed their clash with Chickerell United on Saturday.

The Swans were unable to get their minibus on the road and could not muster alternative transport to carry the team to West Dorset, forcing the game to be postponed.

The Days Park outfit has endured a nightmare campaign following the departure of many of their star names over the summer.

Whitton has done his best with the young side he inherited on the eve of the season, but Swans sit third from bottom of the table with 10 points from 14 matches.

With three of these set to disappear, and the club also likely to incur a £200 fine, Whitton was left to rue an expensive afternoon.

He said: “We didn’t have enough cars between us and it became an issue, which I think is going to cost us a bit. The league didn’t take a very good view of it on the day.

“We can’t afford to lose points and doing it like that is going to be pretty hard to take. But there is nothing we can do about it.

“Basically we have a couple of lads in their 20s who don’t drive and at least four who are still under age. I was the only one who had a car.

“We tried to phone around and sort something out, but time was just getting on and on. It just got to the stage where we had no way of getting there whatsoever.

“They won’t award Chickerell the points. The game will be replayed, but they (the DPL) have told us we’ll have a three-point deduction as well as a £200 fine.”

Whitton added: “The last thing we would have wanted to do was get the minibus going and it let us down halfway there. It is quite an old minibus and we have had issues with it in the past.

“We’ve normally known about them beforehand, though, and managed to get enough people to drive. But when it goes wrong at the last minute, it’s difficult.”

Elsewhere, Hamworthy Recreation remain deadlocked on points with Weymouth at the top of the DPL after winning 2-1 at home to Sturminster Marshall.

James Osborne put them ahead just after the break, but Dan Manuel struck to level for Marshall after 55 minutes.

Jamie Moores netted the winner 10 minutes from time to leave Rec level on 38 points with leaders Weymouth.

The Terras triumphed 4-2 against Hamworthy United at the Wessex Stadium, with Jack Satterley and Scott Parker replying for the Hammers.

Elsewhere, Holt picked up a 2-1 victory at Parley, while Poole Borough won 2-1 at Merley.