HOLSWORTHY boss Kevin Squire admitted he could have no complaints as the Magpies were comprehensively beaten 4-0 at Barnstaple Town on Tuesday night in the second-round of the Torridge Cup.

Barnstaple are aiming for promotion from the league above – the Western League Premier Division – while Holsworthy are in the upper mid-table area of the South West Peninsula League Premier West.

And the gulf in class showed, particularly as Holsworthy were missing nearly half of their first choice starting 11 for various reasons in the shape of Sam Hill, Jay Thomas, Craig Duff, Aiden Slade and Gavin Carter.

Barnstaple, who are managed by former Bude Town boss Ben potter, selected side full of quality and took a 10th minute lead when young forward Oscar Knight picked the ball up just inside Holsworthy’s half before advancing into the area and slotting past Ryan Chadwick.

The hosts continued to be better the side but had to wait until the 29th minute for defender Brodie Montague to head home a corner.

It was all but game over four minutes later as Joe Grigg sent in a shot off the post after a good move down the left.

Luke Mortimore then completed an excellent first half for the Robins when a goalmouth scramble ended with the former Okehampton and Willand frontman making no mistake from close-range.

The second half was unsurprisingly a low-key affair which saw Holsworthy at least create a couple of chances, but Todd Peschke headed over and Ben Sharpe shot wide.

Squire felt his side didn’t turn up, albeit not helped by key absentees.

He said: “I never like losing games, but on the night they were a completely different level.

“They have a lot of very good players whereas we had a lot of our regular starters out. It’d have been nice to have a go against them with our strongest team.

“All we can do is take the learnings from it and next time we play against a good side from the league above, make sure we’re better.

“But I can’t be too critical of us, it’s just where we are at the moment.”

Holsworthy are back in league action on Saturday when they welcome Falmouth Town Reserves to Upcott Field.

Promoted as champions of St Piran League Premier Division West last year, Falmouth have enjoyed a fantastic start to sit fourth in the table with 20 points from 12 outings.

When the two sides met at Bickland Park back in September, they played out a 1-1 draw.

Squire continued: “After a couple of cup games, it’ll be nice to get back to the league.

“When we played them down there they were very well-coached and tough to break down, and since then they’ve been on a great run.

“We’re under no illusions it’ll be a tough game, but we should have a few back.

“I’ll come up with a plan as usual and hopefully we’ll play well and come away with three points.”

HOLSWORTHY: Ryan Chadwick; Callum Martyn, Jedd Peschke (capt), Jeremy Catling; Ben Grech, Craig Penberthy, Rob Pearce, Elis Aldrich, Will Harris; Joe Barker, Ben Sharpe. Subs: Chris Wildern, Todd Peschke, Josh Down, Jonny Lang.