SALISBURY boss Steve Claridge believes that “a few players know that they let themselves down”, following their 2-0 loss to Tiverton Town in the play-off final.

The Whites gave a lacklustre performance against the Devon side, who came out comfortable winners.

Fans also showed their dismay with the performance, heading to social media to say that the better team won on the day.

Claridge’s side had done tremendously well to get into the play-offs after their poor start to the season, which saw them in 11th position in October with 16 points, 25 points behind Hereford in first.

Despite not finishing the season on a high, Claridge said: “It’s easy to be negative and downbeat, but we’ve done OK this year, we were the second best team in the league.”

He also added: “We’ve got to regroup now and maybe get a little bit more luck next season and maybe get a bit closer early doors and not have to play catch up.”

When asked about the players’ performance he said: “There’s a few players that know they let themselves down and they’ve let their football club down.

“We took a chance on Bennett but it didn’t work out – he wasn’t fit and was well off the pace.”

Fans also showed their support despite the disappointment of not gaining promotion, with Rob Taylor writing on the Salisbury FC Supporters’ Facebook page, saying: “Our focus must now be on building a stronger squad with greater depth and consolidating on what has been a fantastic second half of the season.”

Most fans agreed. Neil Whitton said: “We just came up short this season, let’s go again next – we will be there again so let’s learn from this season and try not to make the same mistakes again.”

Salisbury still have silverware to play for this season. They take on Bemerton Heath Harlequins on Wednesday, May 10 (7.45pm).