BOSS Dave Hawkins said his Greyhound side deserved what they got after missing out on Wiltshire Sunday Cup glory at the weekend.

The Swindon Sunday League Division One high-flyers were defeated 2-1 by Chippenham & District outfit FC Jager at Rylands Way.

Jager, who take a number of their players from Melksham Town, went ahead midway through the first half thanks to Gary Higdon.

The equaliser arrived courtesy of Steve Robertson a shortly before the break, but moments from half time a corner was sent in and Greyhound stopper Paul Smith punched into his own net.

That was how the score stayed until the final whistle, and in the closing stages Greyhound’s misery was compounded when Rory Sproule was sent off following a robust challenge.

Hawkins admitted his side had not performed at their best and had not played their natural game.

“I just don’t think we played very well, we just didn’t turn up basically,” said Hawkins.

“The players are all saying the pitch was bobbly and that they couldn’t pass it, and we are a passing team.

“We ended up lumping it, it was rubbish, we didn’t play very well. Fair play to them because they outbattled us and scored two goals.

“I’m very disappointed but if you’d said to me in October when we’d played five games, lost three and won two, that we would have got to a cup final, I’d have thought that was good enough for us.”

The Greyhound boss admitted the turning point had come when his side conceded the second goal.

He said: “We scored just before half time and I thought that would do us, then they sent in a corner and our keeper’s punched it in the net.

“Then it’s an uphill battle so we gambled at the end and went two at the back and tried to get something, but we didn’t really make their goalie make a save all day.”

Hawkins was unconcerned by the red card shown to Sproule, believing the game was all-but lost by that stage.

“The sending off didn’t really influence the game, we were 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go,” he said. “I didn’t really see the challenge but they were saying he went over the ball, so if he did then it’s a sending off.”