THE loss of captain Kris Beasley through injury was the catalyst for Devizes Town’s defeat at Portishead Town, according to joint-manager Darran Walters.

With Devizes leading 1-0, Beasley limped off with 15 minutes to go after suffering a hamstring problem.

And the home side took full advantage to score twice in the dying minutes and send Devizes home deflated.

“It was a bit of a sickener. We got punished by two headers from set-pieces. I’m sure if Chris had been on the pitch that would have been avoided,” said Walters.

“It’s a blow for us as he has already been out for a while with a similar problem and that was his first game back.”

Mark Barnes put Devizes ahead early on at Bristol Road but the visitors were unable to extend that advantage despite creating numerous chances.

Walters added: “We probably should have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time and had a couple more chances in the second half to put the game to bed but we didn’t.

“We should have had a penalty late on for a handball as well but that summed up the game, nothing really went our way.”

Devizes now host Oldland Abbotonians on Saturday.