The Shots were beaten for the first time in five games at Meadowbank, as goals from Jason Prior and Jimmy Muitt gave Dorking all the points.
Cian Harries had the Shots on terms from the spot in the second half, but his effort wasn’t enough to send the visitors home with any points.
“I don’t think we did enough to win the game,” said Widdrington. “I thought Dorking came out the traps better than us and were more fired up than us.
“They’ve got their noses in front and we were indebted to Jordi Van Stappershoef to not be more than 1-0 down.
“As is the case lately we seem to regroup at half-time – so we knew we were going to have a spell and we did.
“We came out and responded, got ourselves back in the game, but again it’s disappointing because every point in this division should be absolutely cherished and I don’t think some of our lads understand that yet.
“There’s been a lot of noise – not from inside the dressing room but from outside the dressing room – from media people giving them loads of pats on the backs and I’m sick of it. We’ll do that in April whenever the seasons finishes. It’s a work in progress.
“People can have their opinions about who’s good and who isn’t good but ultimately we as a group were just not good enough to win a football match.
“I could give you excuses but I’m not that type of bloke.
“It’s disappointing falling behind but I’ve got to say for all the fact I was disappointed with us you look at the two goals and they took massive deflections to go in the goal.
“I think Jordi saves both if they’re not touched after the initial strike towards the goal.
“Over the 90 minutes we could have probably eked a draw out of it but I don’t think we did enough on the ball – we didn’t play well enough.
“We can only put it to the side like we always do whether we win, lose or draw and we’ll move on to the next game.”
Widdrington admitted he was frustrated that his side were unable to reward the large travelling Shots faithful, but thanked the fans for their support.
“The numbers that travelled are fantastic and we really appreciate that,” he said.
“We wanted to give them something to go home happy with, and we nearly did.
“I’m frustrated more than anything else because the group know that my message to them is consistent Monday to Friday and I expect them to be consistent on a Tuesday and a Saturday. We didn’t reach the levels that we have put there as our standards and our group of lads have got to take that on the chin.”
The Shots had picked up wins against Solihull Moors, Lewes, Hartlepool and Maidenhead in their last four, but their quest for a fifth win started poorly as they fell behind early on.
Niall McManus’ throw in was headed away by Coby Rowe, but the following cross was flicked past Van Stappershoef by Prior.
The Shots started the second half well and just before the hour mark Josh Stokes was taken down in the Dorking box to earn a spot kick. Harries made no mistake from the spot, sending Harrison Male the wrong way to put the Shots back on level terms.
Dorking retook the lead in the 70th minute. Muitt won the ball unchallenged in the Aldershot half, and thanks to a huge deflection his effort went past Van Stappershoef.
Lorent Tolaj came closest to levelling for the Shots, but his effort in the 94th minute was sent into the visiting fans behind Male’s goal. Despite a handful of corners the Shots couldn’t find a way through.
Next up for the Shots is a trip to League Two outfit Swindon Town in the first round proper of the FA Cup on Saturday (3pm), and Widdrington wants his side to give a good account of themselves.
“I look forward to the next game,” he said. “It’s a free hit for us – Swindon are a Football League club and have played in the Premier League. I hope we go there and express ourselves in a manner that gives a really good representation of Aldershot Town because for the first half at Dorking we just weren’t at the races.
“It’s a tougher task than anything we’re going to get in our division. If we turn up like we did at Dorking it’ll be a very short afternoon. We won’t be doing that.”
Laurence Ryan