DEVIZES team manager Stuart Hadden reckons his side proved that they won’t allow their season to peter out with a whimper as they brought their run of 14 straight defeats to an end last weekend.

A battling 20-17 win over Grove saw the Saddlebacks finally regain that winning feeling, with the London Road men tasting victory for the first time since September last year.

Devizes remain second-from-bottom in South West One East and Hadden admits that his team have probably left themselves too much to do in terms of avoiding relegation but that doesn’t mean that the Saddlebacks will be going down without a fight.

“Staying up is probably a bit of a long shot but we’re not going to lie down and give up,” said Hadden.

“The players put their bodies on the line on Saturday and they all deserve a pat on the back. They showed that teams like Grove aren’t just going to come to us and win easily.

“We had a few cry-offs before the game – Jorge Wadman had to come in to centre and he was playing alongside Sam Jones, who’s only 19-years-old.

“Tim Alchin had to come in to the second row and it was his first game for the first team but he was man of the match.

“We were 20-10 ahead but they we let them back into it with a try and a conversion. The referee then played 17 minutes extra because we had Seb Hutchings got concussed and they had one man injured and another sin-binned.

“But we got there in the end. It wasn’t pretty but it was blood, sweat and tears.

“Hopefully the boys can take that into the game at Leighton Buzzard on Saturday.”

Andy Thompson booted 15 points in Devizes' victory