TROWBRIDGE Town boss Allan Clarke took heart from his side’s performance against Slimbridge in the Hellenic League Challenge Cup, despite a 4-0 loss on Saturday.

Last season’s Division One West champions took the lead in the first half through Darren Carter before striking three times after the interval through Tom Speers, Russell Wilton and Dan Chandler.

“We were actually in the game for a long time and there wasn’t that much between the two sides,” said Clarke.

“We made some mistakes that made the scoreline look a lot worse than it actually was.

“They were a strong team and it was always going to be an outside chance that we could beat them.”

Trowbridge host bottom side Launton Sports tomorrow, in what manager Clarke considers a “must-win game”.

Last February, Launton had notched up 18 straight defeats before Trowbridge handed them their first point of the season with a 2-2 draw.

Jamie Croydon is expected to be back in the squad for this weekend’s clash.

Following tomorrow’s fixture, the Hellenic League fixture list means that Trowbrige aren’t in league action again until October 23, when they host Purton.