SEAN Moffatt almost led Devizes to victory in his first match as caretaker boss but they were denied by a last gasp goal.

Devizes had fallen behind in the first half but hit back before half-time. They took the lead from the penalty spot in the second half but we denied by an 88th minute equaliser.

Moffatt said: "It was disappointing because we were leading until the last minute of normal time.

"They pumped the ball forward and Jamie Gale tried to cushion the ball back but it was too short and their striker nipped in to score.

"We were gutted at the end but the commitment from the lads was excellent and they were all fired up. The tackles were good and they all played their hearts out for Devizes.

"We went behind but we came back straight away with sleeves rolls up when in recent weeks heads had been dropping."

Included in the Odd Down line-up was former Devizes skipper Brad Newman and Moffatt admitted that factor added some spice to the game.

"We used the Brad thing to fire the boys up," he said. "Brad did take a couple of whacks early on and there were some bookings it wasn't really about that.

"Overall we showed excellent commitment but that has to happen week in week out from now on."

There was certainly an edge to this game with the referee showing four yellow cards in the opening ten minutes.

After the frantic early spell the game started to settle but the first goal did not arrive until four minutes before the break.

Devizes failed to clear a Tony Quoi free-kick and Barry Thomas seized on the loose ball and fired Odd Down into the lead.

But Moffatt's men bounced back immediately thanks to a header from Marcus Wallen.

The second half started to hot-up 20 minutes in when Odd Down defender Jason Bright handled a shot by Wallen on his own goal-line.

Bright was red-carded and Nathan Sheridan converted the spot-kick to put Devizes in front.

The visitors looked to be heading for victory but Odd Down snatched a share of the spoils with five minutes left courtesy of an Alan Williams goal.

The numbers were evened out when Devizes' Kevin Bush was given his marching orders for protesting to the referee after the goal.

As the clock ticked down it was Odd Down who very nearly snatched the lead when Danny Guibarra's got on the end of Jim Jefferies free-kick but hit the crossbar.

Devizes have a free weekend and are not in action again until April 10 when they host Welton Rovers.

Despite his red card Kev Bush should be available for that game because his suspension is likely to be held over until next season.

Moffatt was left in charge of first team affairs following the resignation of player-manager Dave Hopkins last week.

Hopkins is likely to complete the season playing for Pewsey Vale and Corsham Town while Moffatt confirmed he would stay with Devizes until the summer. "I said from day one I never wanted to do it more than a year whether Dave was there or not," he said. "I want to help the team get back on its feet and get a bit of team spirit back. People will look at our poor results but the fact we've even been playing is a big thing after what happened last summer."

Moffatt has now called on Devizes people to get behind their team and turn up in numbers at Nursteed Road on April 10.

"What has been disappointing is the support from locals," he continued. "It's my job to try and lift team.

"But when the lads are on the pitch and see a crowd of 50, including 30 away fans, it's hard to motivate them and tell them everyone is out there rooting for them.

"What we need is the town to really get behind us now."