CARL Heeley described the 5-0 drubbing by Halifax as the worst defeat of his tenure as manager.

Lee Gregory scored four goals as the hosts ran riot at The Shay with a performance that enhanced their play-off credentials and virtually ended City’s.

Heeley has been in charge at St George’s Lane for three years and when asked if it was his worst loss he said: “I think so.

“It’s been a poor week for us with injuries and illness and it’s been finished off with the biggest defeat of the season.

“We can’t have any complaints, it was men against boys. All over the pitch they looked to have more energy than us, they won every tackle, kept the ball better and looked more of a threat.

“I don’t think we matched them in any area and that’s probably the first time this season “We got what we deserved and at times it could have been worse than that if I’m truthful.”

He continued: “I know what I’m going to get from certain players week in week out.

“Even when things are not going well for them they want to do their best, put themselves on the line and give it all they’ve got.

“But I think it was evident that wasn’t the case for everybody, some went missing and we were beaten by a far better side on the day. We’ve got a thumping and it was a deserved thumping, we’ve got no complaints.

“We created next to nothing whereas Halifax created bags of chances and you can see that they have got a great chance of being promoted.”