THE Magpies fell to a second defeat in the space of three days as Wendron United ran out 3-1 winners at a windswept Upcott Field.

Holsworthy were finally beaten at the 10th attempt by league leaders Elburton Villa on Wednesday night thanks to Reece Brown’s 96th minute winner, that after Craig Duff had levelled from the penalty-spot for the North Devon side not long after Aaron MacPherson had put the Villa in front.

Holsworthy were looking to kickstart another run, but were dealt a blow on the morning of the game as striker Ben Sharpe pulled out through injury.

It meant boss Kevin Squire had to reshuffle the troops as Josh Down kept his place in midfield, while Jay Thomas was back in the engine room.

Wendron won the toss and chose to make first use of the wind and after an even start, led 3-0 at the break, the first arriving midway through the half via Ryan Reeve, which was added to within five minutes by Cameron Quirke.

Quirke then grabbed a second to give the Devonians a mountain to climb.

Wendron were unsurprisingly content to sit in after the restart, although the hosts were unhappy that Jay Thomas saw a goal disallowed by the referee following a consultation with the linesman.

A consolation arrived 15 minutes from time via a Duff spot-kick after he was pushed in the box, and a disappointing day for the hosts concluded with Gavin Carter seeing red for an off-the-ball incident.

Reflecting on the afternoon, boss Kevin Squire admitted he was far from happy.

He said: “For me it was very disappointing and not what I expected.

“Losing our top scorer (Ben Sharpe) didn’t help, but the mistakes we made and the poor tackling of the conditions was an eye-opener for me.

“We have had a great start to the season, but it is only a start.

“Saturday was a lesson that we have to turn up and perform to the levels we have been performing to, to pick up points in this league.

“The players gave been great in these early weeks, so we take our defeat on the chin, and work hard to get a more positive result in the next game.”

Holsworthy now take a break from league action.

They visit North Devon rivals Torridgeside in the South West Peninsula League Walter C Parson League Cup on Friday night (7.30pm).

Squire said: “We will train this week and look forward to Torridgeside on Friday night.

“Friday night games generally have good crowds and good atmospheres, so I’m looking forward to that already.”

The Donnacroft outfit saw off Holsworthy in last season’s Torridge Cup final at Torrington, although Squire, who was appointed in the summer, won’t be using that as part of his team talk.

He said: “Torridgeside are a good club who have some good young and experienced local players.

“If the players want to use last season cup final as motivation that is fine, but that was nothing I was part of, so this is just another game to me.”

HOLSWORTHY v Wendron United: Ryan Chadwick; Sam Hill, Jedd Peschke (capt), Callum Martyn, Will Harris; Jay Thomas, Aiden Slade, Josh Down; Gavin Carter, Craig Duff, Elis Aldrich. Subs: Joe Barker, Rob Pearce, Chris Wildern, Kieran Jollow.