Torquay United manager Paul Wotton says his side were “not ruthless enough” after their 1-0 loss at bottom-of-the-table Chippenham Town.
Tom Mehew’s 83rd-minute goal proved to be the difference between the sides as the National League South leaders lost for the first time since 20 December.
The Gulls missed a host of chances to get on the scoresheet before going behind as Louis Dennis hit the post while Jordan Young and Dylan Morgan went close.
The defeat, coupled with Dorking Wanderers’ 2-0 win over Dover Athletic, means the Gulls are still top of the division, but only on goal difference.
“We’ve got to be more ruthless, we’ve got to have that killer instinct to score a goal,” said Wotton, who was named the National League South manager of the month for January earlier on Tuesday.
“They had one cross, you’ve got to live and die for clean sheets and the goal was too easy,” he told BBC Radio Devon.
“This doesn’t mean we’ve won the league or lost the league tonight, but we can’t concede that goal,” he added.
“We did everything we could to win the game substitute-wise, I thought they came on and did well.
“We’ve got to lick our wounds and we’ve got to get home and we’ve got to go again, because football’s a cruel game and it’s sore at the moment, but we have to regroup and go again.”
