CHIPPENHAM Town boss Mark Collier has left his players in no doubt that Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing at Bideford was simply unacceptable.

The Bluebirds boss pulled no punches in an honest assessment of his team’s performance at Kingsley Road, labelling it the most disappointing day since taking over at the club last November.

Chippenham had travelled to Devon in relatively good form, with last weekend’s narrow loss at home to St Neots Town their first defeat in six games.

But they were nowhere near their best on Saturday and were comprehensively outplayed by a Bideford side who still sit four places below them in the table.

Collier said: “It’s the biggest disappointment since I’ve been at the club. There were seven or eight players who didn’t perform to the levels they should and they’ve all been reminded of their responsibilities.

“They fell well below what we expect. We got exactly what we deserved, which was absolutely nothing.

“We started well and missed a few chances but then all of a sudden we are 3-0 down in a short space of time, mainly because of a lack of professionalism.

“The younger players look up to the experienced players but those guys didn’t really show enough on Saturday.

“The players have apologised but that sort of performance won’t be tolerated.

“I hadn’t seen this coming. I only said before the game that we are getting very hard to beat but it was much, much too easy for Bideford on Saturday.

“We are missing personnel and were probably four or five short of what I would have liked to have had but it was still 11 against 11 and we were just out fought.

“I can accept being beaten by a good side but Bideford are what I’d say are a workman-like team. But fair play to them, they have come up trumps against us.”

Ben Watson headed Bideford in front after 16 minutes before doubling the advantage shortly afterwards.

Richard Groves then fired home from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark as Chippenham’s race was run before the interval.

The home side had to wait until the 70th minute before making it 4-0 when Kevin Squire found the net and Groves put added gloss on the scoreline when he curled home a late free-kick.