HIGHWORTH Town manager Jeff Roberts admitted his side deserved nothing from their derby clash against Melksham Town on Saturday after The Worthians were beaten 3-0 by Richard Fey’s men.

Jack Ball scored two penalties at either end of the match – one came in the third minute before the second was dispatched in the 90th – while Phillip Ormrod grabbed a goal on the hour mark for the visitors.

Defeat ended Highworth’s run of four matches unbeaten and leaves Roberts’ men in ninth place ahead of their crucial FA Cup tie away at Tavistock next Saturday.

The Highworth manager felt his players perhaps had an eye on staying injury-free and available ahead of next week’s game and did not pay due care and attention to a fixture that they were victorious in last season.

Roberts said: “We didn’t deserve anything from the game – we started out very slow and we finished very slow.

“They came out all guns blazing, and we just went missing today.

“We were second to everything, our passing was poor, our marking was poor, our work ethic wasn’t good enough.

“Whether the players had their minds on next Saturday already, I don’t know.

“We tried to get into them at half time, but we carried on in the same manner to be honest.

“We were making stupid mistakes, we weren’t picking up players, and even when we had the ball we didn’t do anything with it.”

Roberts felt his players took their eye off the ball on Saturday and was left disappointed that his side were unable or unwilling to match Melksham’s intensity levels for what is their only Wiltshire derby in the league.

The Highworth manager felt their opposition were out to prove a point following their slow start to the season and has encouraged his team to forget about the result quickly as they prepare for Tavistock on Saturday.

Roberts said: “I think it was like a cup final for them – you could hear them in the changing room afterwards, they were singing and had the stereo blaring, and that was the difference today.

“They wanted to come here and prove a point and I think they did that.

They wanted to try and kickstart their season and we’ve been four games unbeaten, but I just wonder whether it was in the players’ minds about not getting injured or getting suspended for next Saturday.

“We can hold our hands up and say we weren’t good enough on the day, but we’ll forget about it now and we’ve got to move on quickly.”