WAYNE Wheeler's first goal for six matches was not enough to sink Cadbury Heath on Saturday as Westbury's late promotion charge hit a stumbling block in Bristol.

The White Horse men had galloped into fourth place with a string of fine performances but an inconsistent end to March has left manager Paul Brickley biting his nails. Brickley said: "We seem to perform better against the top sides and I don't know why. Maybe the lads think it will be easy against the lesser teams, I'm not sure.

"The most disappointing thing for me is that after a great season we could still finish outside the top six." In a frantic opening, Wheeler saw his intelligent lob land just wide of the upright and Nick Evans reacted swiftly to deflect Tom Knighton's strike onto the crossbar.

Paul Bryant headed just wide for Heath before team-mate Ben Cummings almost gifted Westbury the opening goal when he deflected a shot beyond the post. The home side opened the scoring after 34 minutes when Knighton met Simon Warren's corner with a cushioned header and Ryan Nicholls scored from the edge of the box.

United were further frustrated when skipper Mark Pearce went off with a rib injury.

Wheeler was rewarded for his persistence with a goal after 55 minutes. Strike partner Matty Bown skipped past King before crossing to Wheeler, who scored from six yards.

Wheeler spurned a chance to put Westbury ahead late in the game, before Tarick Yachou made a desperate tackle on Knighton as the Heath striker looked certain to win the game for his side.