DISGRUNTLED Devizes boss Dave Hopkins had another day to forget on Saturday when his side were thrashed at Barnstaple.

Hopkins had been complaining about the commitment of some of his players and had to cobble together another scratch side at the weekend after a handle of players pulled out late on Friday.

Devizes did create a couple of chances in the first half but trailed 1-0 at the break and once Barnstaple got their second goal the match was over.

Hopkins said: "We had a few people drop out late on Friday. We were missing Kev Coles, Nick Mooney and Marcus Wallen was only on the bench because he twisted his ankle in a freak incident crossing the road.

"With what we had out on the pitch we should still have done better. But the performance just wasn't there.

"I don't want to whinge about it but the guys there were better than 4-0. We didn't put the performance in though."

He continued: "Barnstaple are strong at home and beat Bideford and Paulton there. But we beat them at our place and lost 1-0 in the cup and our games are normally tight.

"We felt sorry for ourselves and I don't know why. It was a long trip and we made the effort to go there and then played mediocre which was frustrating."

The first half was reasonably tight and Devizes did create some early chances which Gary Campbell and Justin Lisle were not able to capitalise on. But it was Barnstaple who went in front when the cleared a Devizes free-kick and mounted a quick counter attack that saw Bryan Trugden find the net.

After half-time Devizes were just not at the races and they only created one more shot before the final whistle.

Snow, hailstones and heavy rain turned the pitch into a quagmire but Barnstaple handled the conditions the better and scored three more times.

Devizes' calls for offside were ignored as Karl Curtis put an overhead kick into the bottom corner.

Heads dropped among the away team after that goal and Barnstaple's third soon followed when Andy Coombes failed to check where his goalkeeper was and played a back-pass into the net from 20 yards.

The home side notched their fourth goal Devizes pushed more men forward and they again hit them on the counter attack as Kevin Squire scored.

Hopkins added: "Their second goal was the killer and people started feeling sorry for themselves which shouldn't have happened.

"I was hoping with the games we had left to play we could climb the table if we put out a reasonable side.

"But the players don't seem too bothered at all and I've been frustrated all season by not being able to field the same team week in week out."

Devizes are without a fixture this weekend. They are next in action away to Odd Down a week Saturday by which time Marcus Wallen and Nick Taylor's injury should have cleared up.