New boss Adrian Pennock “had a right go” at his Dartford players for the first time during their defeat by Maidstone.

Pennock saw the Darts undo all their good work by conceding with virtually the final kick of the first half at Princes Park on Saturday.

Liam Sole still had plenty to do after picking up possession but Pennock put the goal down to a lapse in concentration at the end of three minutes’ added time.

The hosts had goalkeeper Billy Terrell sent off early in the second half, although Darts are considering an appeal, and Jephte Tanga added a late second for the Stones.

It was a third successive defeat for new boss Pennock whose side are now two points from safety in the National League South relegation zone.

He’s confident they have what it takes to stay up but delivered a few home truths at the break.

“That’s the first time I think they’ve seen me say a few hard things and I said to them it’s because I care,” said Pennock.

“I’ve had a right old go at them at half-time because we can’t keep conceding goals like that.

“That’s the first time I’ve lost it with them at half-time.

“It’s constructive criticism, obviously, but it was so frustrating because we were in the game and then 10 minutes into the second half we get a red card and then it’s tough, you’re up against it, but they’ve given me everything.

“Take away the extra time, whatever it was, but we’ve got to concentrate.

“If it’s 10 minutes extra we’ve got to concentrate and do our jobs properly.

“You can’t rest on your laurels in this league or any league.

“You’ve got to be professional and do things properly and arguably, OK, he played a minute extra but it’s no excuse.

“We can’t concede goals like that.

“The people from top to bottom, the supporters, they’ve been incredible, the players, they’ve been fantastic.

“So I’ve already got a relationship with them and I want to do so well for this football club.

“I want to win and it hurts when we lose. It hurts me that we’re losing games.”

Pennock was taking charge of his first home game following away defeats against Torquay and Braintree.

They looked good in the first half, with Brandon Barzey in particular causing plenty of problems down the right.

But the goal didn’t come and they paid the price.

If Sole’s strike upset their rhythm, they were left well up against it when Terrell was adjudged to have taken down Maidstone striker Mo Faal after racing out of his area.

Pennock feels there’s potential to appeal the decision after watching a replay but the damage is done.

“I thought for 40 minutes we were the best team, we just lacked concentration in the last five seconds of the first half which has been an ongoing thing here,” said Pennock.

“If we saw the first half out at 0-0 we were in a positive place at the time because I thought we looked dangerous, we coped with what they were throwing at us.

“We lost a little bit of concentration but then the red card changes the game completely.

“We had a look at it, it looks like he got the ball, so we’re going to see if we can appeal but after that, you’re chasing it because you want to score a goal and they’ve scored a second.”

Report: Dartford 0-2 Maidstone

“The players gave me absolutely everything.

“I’ve seen enough now in the three tough games I’ve had that we’ve got enough to stay in this division.

“They’ve got to keep believing it, like I believe in every single one of those players in there.”

Dartford host Maidstone again on Tuesday night, this time in the Kent Senior Cup semi-finals.

Both teams look set to make plenty of changes.