SALISBURY City boss Nick Holmes was mightily unimpressed with his players after they failed to sparkle in the sunshine at Sittingbourne.

Whites struggled on a poor playing surface and created only one real scoring opportunity all afternoon.

Holmes said: "We got there and it was already 70 degrees.

"The pitch was rock hard in places. Their sprayers had broken down. Some areas were covered in water and it was a mess.

"We'd already won promotion and we know we can't finish in the top three so it was an instant turn off for our players

"But these games are all about attitude and for once I was very disappointed with ours on the day."

Holmes handed a first league start to goalkeeper Aaron Hedges, resting Kevin Sawyer who has been carrying an injury in recent weeks.

One of his few tasks in a life-less first half was to pick the ball out of the net after Sittingbourne took a 20th minute lead via Jamie Coyle's free kick.

Team captain Scott Bartlett was named on the bench alongside Wayne Turk, though both appear-ed at the start of the second half after Holmes expressed his disappointment at his side's display in the opening 45 minutes.

"I took two players off, but I could have taken off eight of them," said the manager.

Adam Wallace headed wide after the break from a Craig Davis corner in a rare City attack.