DEVIZES fielded a weakened team but still had enough in the locker to dispatch a workman-like Marlborough side to move into the next round of the Wiltshire Senior Cup.

Manager Dave Hopkins had one eye on Saturday's Les Phillips Cup clash against Dawlish and was pleased to see some of his less experienced players shine.

He said: "We put out a mixed side and changed the system round completely and tried a few different teams.

"Marlborough battled hard but it worked well for us. We had three or four players of a higher quality and it showed in the result."

Marlborough worked hard in the early stages and frustrated the home side. But Devizes eventually made the all important breakthrough on the half hour.

Nathan Perkins and Nathan Sheridan combined to tee up Marcus Wallen who buried a well-taken volley from ten yards.

Hopkins urged his team on during a half-time pep talk and the players responded by getting a second goal within the first ten minutes of the second half.

This time Danny Maslen delivered the final pass and Wallen latched onto the ball and buried a shot for his second of the game.

The result was made safe when Wallen's strike partner Simon Drewitt got on the score-sheet when he netted after running onto Rob Hannah's long ball.

Hopkins added: "The main thing was to get through. We've got a good chance of winning this cup and it would be nice to get through to the final. The major plus for me was the fact that we got through the tie fielding a mixed team."

Meanwhile, Hopkins confirmed he had recently made an approach to get former Chippenham Town manager Tommy Saunders involved with the club in a scouting capacity.

"Tom been around the Western League for along time," said Hopkins. "I have played against him and his sides and we know each other well.

"He has got a lot of contacts and experience and I asked him if he could help us on the scouting side.

"I'm unable to go out and look at players as much as I would like. If Tom is watching games I asked him to let us know about players.

"He said if he could do anything for us it would only ever be on a short term basis until he gets back to a higher level."