ASSISTANT boss Shane Traynor admitted “a few tired legs” had contributed to injury-hit Wimborne Town suffering a 5-2 defeat at promotion-chasing Salisbury yesterday.

Magpies led 2-1 with just seven minutes remaining at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium before a late flurry of goals saw the high-flying Whites register a somewhat flattering scoreline.

Traynor and fellow assistant Danny Holmes were among the Wimborne substitutes, while Sam Bayston came off the bench for the first time since recovering from a lengthy injury layoff.

Magpies lost Paddy Hester to injury against Yate on Saturday, while Luke Holmes, Sam Davidson, Dan Cann, Carl Preston and Josh Hartley were also unavailable.

Traynor told the Daily Echo: “The lads put in a really good shift and worked very hard.

“Unfortunately, a few tired legs kicked in at the end and we didn’t have enough personnel on the bench to help the situation. It was always going to be difficult and so it proved.”

Toby Holmes drew first blood for Magpies when he opened the scoring after 33 minutes before Thomas Wright levelled midway through the second half.

Wimborne again silenced the majority of the 914-strong crowd when they regained the lead through Louis Kellaway following good work by Will Prior and Holmes in the 67th minute.

However, a dearth of options from the bench finally came home to roost when Salisbury overpowered them in the closing stages with Lewis Benson scoring twice, Kane O’Keefe once and Wright adding a penalty.

Traynor felt Wimborne had given their hosts a fright until the final few minutes, adding: “Some of their supporters were getting on their backs because they couldn’t break us down.

“We had a good game plan which our players stuck to until about the 80-minute mark. They scored a rather fortuitous second goal to make it 2-2 and that got their tails up. From there, they had momentum which took them forward to win the game.”

Magpies manager Matty Holmes served the last of a three-match stadium ban against Salisbury and will be back in the dugout for the visit of Slimbridge to Cuthbury on Saturday.

Magpies: Benfield, Walker, Penny, Maybury, Oldring, Kellaway, Stokoe, Prior (Bayston, 71), T Holmes, Neale, Lovell. Unused subs: Traynor, D Holmes, Collins (g/k).