Dartford manager Tony Burman felt his side were below par in Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Truro City.

It was another disappointing afternoon for the Darts, who could not capitalise on the pressure they put the visitors under throughout the first half.

Their inability to turn chances into goals gave Truro more confidence in the second period, with the visitors scoring the decisive goal three minutes from the end through Isaac Vassell.

Vassell’s strike came from a rebound after keeper Deren Ibrahim, the standout player again for Dartford, had blocked Andy Dawson’s initial shot.

It may only be September but that was enough to inflict a fifth defeat of the season on Darts, with Burman admitting they need to make their domination in games count.

He said: “Truro have come and they have done a job on us.

“In all fairness, we have got to learn to break that down.

“I feel that we had a lot of possession but we did not open them up enough.”

The Dartford manager also bemoaned his side’s display in front of goal, which has been a problem for his team throughout the campaign so far.

Burman explained: “We did not create enough in that last third or have that desire to get in front of someone and get that goal.

“The longer the game went on, you are always open to counter attacks and going a goal down - and that is exactly what happened.

“I felt that when we got the ball wide, we did not get crosses in early enough.

“If we could not go down the line and beat the full-back, we should have just cut inside and beaten the full-back.”

He added: “We did not break them down, we did not open them up and we have paid the penalty.

“We did not get that spark. We were in third gear and we needed to get to fourth and fifth.”

Despite the latest loss, the Princes Park chief was at least satisfied with the emerging partnership between central defenders Callum McNaughton and Tom Gardiner:

He said: “They are two lads that have made a couple of mistakes, but they have come through that hopefully and today they have not put a foot wrong.”

Burman acknowledged his side have been poor this season, having won just four of their opening 11 fixtures.

He said: “We are below par in all fairness, that is me being honest. I am disappointed our points tally is not higher.

“I felt that this was an important week and we now have the cup game coming up on Saturday.

“Today we have huffed and puffed but we have not been able to get the ball in the back of the net.

“We did not break them down enough to warrant getting anything.”

Dartford begin their FA Cup campaign at home to Uxbridge on Saturday.