MARK Godley praised the effort and dedication of his players after they crashed out of the Les Phillips Cup to two late goals on Saturday.

The manager was delighted that his side stood firm for 70 minutes and tested the Screwfix Premier title chasers.

Despite their efforts the home team suffered heartbreak when striker Neil Saunders gave the visitors the lead and Danny Burwood killed the game off in the dying minutes.

Godley could not find fault in his players and said: "The effort, attitude and commitment from the boys was brilliant.

"The game was tight for most of the 90 minutes and it looked like the first team to make a silly mistake would lose the game, unfortunately it was us."

Even though Devizes were knocked out of the Les Phillips Cup, the manager feels the match has put his side in high spirits before their Wiltshire Senior Cup quarter final on Saturday when they play hosts to Hellenic League outfit Trowbridge.

Godley was happy with the performance as Devizes were missing five key players for the Les Philips match.

Gary Campbell is still injured and has not played for eight weeks. Defender Andy Combes was unavailable, striker Dave Lloyd, who is subject to a seven day transfer request from Corsham Town, had a slight ankle injury, Brian Kayll is on duty with the RAF and Jonathan Scott had work commitments.

The manager is more positive as Combes, Lloyd and Scott are all due to return for the Wiltshire Cup clash against Trowbridge.

The home side battled for the first half without creating any clear-cut chances but the defence lived up to everything that was thrown at them by the Screwfix high flying visitors.

The guests, who are currently third in the division, finally broke down Devizes with just 20 minutes left on the clock.

A long free kick was floated in the area and the Devizes players switched off allowing ex-Tiverton striker Saunders to head in from close range.

With a few minutes to go the lead was doubled when Nathan Sheridan stretched for a ball and unfortunately missed it and Richard Pears ran in and stole the ball.

He ran down the side of the Devizes penalty box and squared for Burwood to tap in.