Aldershot Town boss claims Chesterfield's Jeff King 'dived' to win penalty

King went down under a challenge in the box with less than 20 minutes remaining and referee Tom Bishop pointed to the spot.

Danny Rowe scored it and then debutant Kabongo Tshimanga doubled the lead four minutes later to seal victory on the opening day of the new season.

Searle felt that King went down too easily in the area and that it was a ‘turning point’ in the game.

“I think the lads can take a lot of pride out of the majority of the game,” Searle told Shots TV.

"I think for large periods we looked as good, if not better, than them in spells.

"The lad (King), for me, dived and then actually says to Kins (Lewis Kinsella) that he dived and bought the penalty.

"I know it is hard for referees but, for me, that was the turning point of the game.

"It is hard for the officials, I do get it, if someone simulates something in the penalty area you have got a split decision to make. Unfortunately, from our perspective, he got it wrong.”

He added: "When we look back at the Tshimanga one we will all be disappointed, we could have handled that a lot better.

"But there are a lot of positives for us to take out of the game, some of the young lads did fantastically well.

"I thought for the majority of the game we gave a really good account of ourselves.”