IT was a day of missed opportunities for Devizes as they slipped to their fifth consecutive defeat on Saturday.

Torrington took an early lead until midfielder Nathan Perkins drilled in an equaliser. The visitors regained the lead early in the second period before Devizes missed a host of chances to level the scores.

Assistant manager John Freegard thought his side wasted a number of chances to win the game.

He said: "We are very disappointed with the result.

"We were kicking against the wind in the first and thought we had done the hard work but it did not work out like that.

"They were dangerous on the break and we played into their hands by giving the ball away on many occasions."

Freegard, who is in charge of the side while manager Mark Godley is on business in Canada, said the loss was a big blow as Torrington were third from bottom in the Screwfix Premier League.

"This was a must win game and we had enough chances to score. I think the second goal knocked the wind out of the players and affected their confidence."

With the strong wing both teams struggled to get into the match from the start.

The visitors made the first break through on 12 minutes, which resulted in the first goal. A throw in was taken from the right to the striker who was totally unmarked on the edge of the Devizes penalty area.

He ran at goal but his low shot was parried by goalkeeper Andy King. Unfortunately there was a Torrington player on hand to tap in the rebound.

Despite kicking into the wind the home side upped the tempo and equalised just ten minutes later.

A cross from winger Nick Mooney fell to striker Simon Price. He flicked the ball onto midfielder Nathan Perkins who drilled his shot low and hard into the bottom corner.

The home side continued to dominate proceedings and played some attractive football.

Their best first half effort came on the stroke of half time when captain Brad Newman's strike from outside the area went agonisingly wide.

After the break the Nursteed Road outfit should have taken the lead but Price put the ball over the bar from eight yards outs.

The visitors grabbed the winner on the hour mark when a midfielder smashed a shot into the box.

It ricocheted off a defender and conveniently fell at the feet of their striker who fired home from close range.

The goal knocked the wind out of Devizes' sails but they got themselves back into the game. They finally got their act together but in the 75th minute the players must have wondered how the equaliser was not scored when Price hit the underside of the bar from six yards.

Devizes face Hellenic Premier League strugglers Wootton Bassett at home in the Wiltshire Cup on Saturday.