FROME Town’s bad start to the season continued on Tuesday night as they were beaten 4-0 at Bideford.

Sloppy defending was to blame for the defeat but Town boss Adrian Foster felt aggrieved when two first-half penalty claims fell on deaf ears.

Frome found themselves behind after just five minutes and saw the deficit double mid-way through the first half.

Two goals in the last ten minutes of the game secured the home side’s fate and Foster is hoping for a change in fortunes soon.

“At the moment we can’t defend,” said Foster, who has seen several injuries disrupt his usual back four and whose side drew 2-2 at Arlesey on Saturday.

“We are creating chances but some very poor defending is giving us an uphill battle.

“We should have scored a couple of goals and there were two strong penalty shouts turned down.

“We have been conceding some really bad goals which is unlike us.

“I am hopeful the tide will turn, we are a decent side, but at the moment it just hasn’t been going for us.”

The first goal came for Bideford when a right wing cross was knocked down leaving the hosts with plenty of space for a simple tap in.

On 33 minutes Frome goalkeeper Darren Chitty was able to stop an effort from the edge of the area but Bideford latched onto the rebound to score into an empty net.

The home side completed the one-sided scoreline with a goal on the counter-attack on 80 minutes before a long range effort beat Chitty with just a minute left on the clock.

Town will now have a break from the league when they face Wimborne Town in the FA Cup first qualifying round.

“It is going to be a very tough match I think and if we don’t set out our stall early on we could be in for a right battle,” added Foster.