DAVE Byrne laid the law down to Town's reserve team last night after a 5-1 County Ground humbling by Cheltenham.

Head of youth Byrne, taking charge of the second string for the evening, described the performance as "horrendous'' as Town leaked collapsed in the second half.

And he gave a stark warning to the players, many of whom are on the fringes of the first team, that they had done nothing to enhance their claims to manager Paul Sturrock.

Byrne fumed: "All managers want a work ethic and an application and a willing to go and play and collectively and individually, we didn't show that appetite.

"When you play in a reserve game you have got to prove to the manager that he was wrong to leave you out (of the first team) and that you are worthy of a place.

"But there wasn't one person who could knock on the manager's door after that.

"I looked at Cheltenham's players and (manager) John Ward must have been delighted by what he saw from them.'' Blair Sturrock gave Town, who featured recently released Crystal Palace defender Michael Kamara as a triallist, the lead early on, but it was downhill all the way one Cheltenham had moved into a 2-1 lead at half-time.

Byrne added: "In the first half we did well.

"We had worked on things, keeping our pattern of play.

"They showed some good signs and the boys had taken in what we'd said.

"But in the second half, we just capitulated at the end of the day and that's not what you expect to see.'' Josh Ferran levelled after Sturrock's 11th-minute opener and Craig Reid finished from close range to give the Gloucestershire side the lead before the interval.

Reid added another before a defensive mix-up allowed Matt Walsh to fire home a fourth.

Ten minutes from time, Walsh slotted past keeper Jon Stewart to complete Town's agony.

Town: Jon Stewart, Patrick Noubissie, Callum Kennedy, Ben Wells, Michael Kamara, Tom Evans, Curtis Weston, Gareth Whalley, Blair Sturrock, Jake Hyde, Sofiene Zaaboub. Subs: Andy Westall, Sam Morris, Scott Doe Cheltenham Town: Scott Brown, Andy Gallinagh, David Biggs, Adam Connolly, Gavin Caines, Mike Wylde, Sosthene Yao, Shane Paul, Josh Ferran, Craig Reid, Matt Walsh. Subs: Will Puddy, Jack Durrant, Dean Maynard, Ben Pattison, Darius Morgan