HIGHWORTH Town joint boss Ross Adams accepted his players got what they deserved in Saturday’s 3-1 Southern League Division One loss to Winchester City.

Sam Morris struck on the half-hour mark for the Worthians to cancel out City’s opening goal, which was scored by Oliver Bailey.

Though Adams’ squad remained level for the 40 minutes that followed, City ended the game two goals to the better as Jamie Barron and Olly Balmer found the back of the net.

Defeat was Highworth’s ninth of the season, and they now sit 12th in the 20-team division with 26 points secured from 21 games.

It was also Worthians’ first defeat since Adams took charge of the first team with co-boss and club legend John Fisher following Jeff Roberts’ resignation.

For Adams, he couldn’t fault his players’ efforts but accepted the better team won.

He added: “I don’t think we played as well as we have done in the last couple of weeks.

“To be fair, we got what we deserved – though I can’t fault the lads for their effort on Saturday, they worked hard throughout the game.

“But we lacked a bit of quality at times and that showed, especially in the second half when we struggled to create any chances.

“We’ll give the lads we’ve currently got until the end of the season and review things from there.

“We’re not in any rush to make any big changes, I know the players we’ve got are more than capable of playing at this level.

“There are things we need to work on as a team, but that will come – we’re only three games into our roles.”

Securing the first-team manager role came as a surprise to Adams, who was speaking for the first time since he accepted his new role at the club after the final whistle on Saturday.

A former first-team player and reserves manager, Adams admits the second half of this season will be a steep learning curve for him personally.

But he is relishing the challenge ahead, and that includes next weekend’s daunting trip to face in-form Wiltshire rivals Melksham.

Adams added: “It’s not a job I was looking to take on at the start of the season – I had no aspirations to do this job this season.

“I’ve been involved with the reserves and played here too, and the committee have asked me to do a job.

“I’m more than happy to help. It’s completely new to me, and a steep learning curve given it’s my first management role at this level.

“But I’ve enjoyed it so far, and we’ll look to put our own stamp on things going forward.”