DEVIZES Town all but cemented a top five Premier Division finish for themselves after Dave Hopkins' winner ended Bridgwater Town's long unbeaten run at Nursteed Road on Saturday 27 April.

Brian Newlands' side, who won 12 of their final 16 matches to move into fifth spot, must now wait until Wednesday to learn whether they will cling on to their current position.

Sixth placed Dawlish Town, five points behind, are the only side who can overhaul Devizes, but faced Taunton Town last night and also play league leaders Bideford and seventh placed Paulton in a nightmare run-in to the end of the campaign.

Devizes boss Newlands targeted a top five finish at the start of the season and has been delighted with the progress made by his side this term.

He said: "I would be disappointed if we didn't finish in the top five now. Dawlish have got to play Taunton and Bideford and I couldn't have hand-picked the games better for them.

"If you look at the top four in the league, we couldn't really have done any better than that. Going back a while I didn't expect to get there, but we've got 37 points out of the last 48 and a lot of the lads have really proved themselves in the past few months.

"To better it next season will prove a daunting challenge, but it is an exciting one we are looking forward to."

Newlands is hoping to retain the servicesof two of his top players next season after both of the unnamed men received offers from other sides in the area during the final weeks of the season.

"Hopefully we'll come back next year with a couple of new players, and I'm hopeful I won't lose any. Two have been spoken to already and it is a case of whether they want to carry it through with us of go somewhere for the money.

""I want to tie things up in the next couple of weeks so I can have a nice rest before pre-season. I won't be held to ransom and, if they go, that is that. I've got a budget to think about at the end of the day."

Saturday's clash saw a committed performance from both sides, with Bridgwater looking to extend the unbeaten record that has seen them move from the relegation mire into mid-table in recent months.

Pacy midfielder Paul Irvine posed the main threat for the lively visitors, but met with stubborn resistance from the home defence, who were well marshalled by Darren Walters.

With the home side in commanding form at the back, Devizes began to create chances of their own and goalkeeper Kevin Hurd produced a superb one-handed save to deny the home side's player of the season Barry Flippance.

Hopkins then grabbed the only goal of the game seven minutes before the break, sweeping home a shot after the visiting defence had failed to clear Nathan Perkins' corner.

Devizes goalkeeper Dave Hunt, again deputising for the injured Paul Thompson, ensured Devizes reached the 70-point mark for the season with some faultless late handling as Bridgwater searched for an equaliser in the second half.

Devizes boss Newlands was pleased with his side's performance.

He said: "It was a good game. Bridgwater are a good young side and, if they can add a couple of players, they will be dynamite next year.

"We changed it a bit in the second half and Chris Copp took care of Paul Irvine, who is the best player I've seen at this level for quite a while.

"We withstood a lot of pressure and kept them at bay. I don't think they really created any clear-cut opportunities and, although we gave the ball away at times, you can't really take it away from our lads."