After a tight midweek draw between local rivals Axminster Town and Honiton Town, both East Devon outfits suffered tough weekend defeats on the road in the South-West Peninsula League.
The Tigers of Axminster made the trip to Brixham in South Devon and had no answer to a dominant display from the Fishermen, who marched to a powerful 4-0 victory.
The Hippos of Honiton, meanwhile, were away to Torrington, who made the best possible start in front of their home crowd, Josh Parsons pouncing on a mix-up in the Honiton defence to turn sharply and fire a fine finish into the corner.
Torrington maintained their momentum with a fizzing shot against the bar but Honiton then found their attacking verve, piling on the pressure and an almighty scramble in the penalty area saw the ball forced over the line by Kyle Howell.
The hosts struck the bar again before half-time arrived with scores level and there was a quiet start to the second half, but, as the clock ticked down, the game came to life. A cross in from the side lines was met by the home side to nod into the corner of the Hippos goal. Town pushed for the equaliser but the North Devon club found another opportunity to increase their lead to 3-1.
The crowd were in for a feast of late goals. Once again Town won a late penalty, which Ben Ede converted. It was 3-2 and The Hippos had the ‘bit between their teeth’ looking for the equaliser. T
hey nearly got it in the dying moments when through Joe Packer-Byrne but Torrington won the ball and headed for the Hippos goal. Jack Wreford pulled off a great save, only to see the ball drop to an attacker’s feet for Torrington to add their fourth goal.
It was a midweek trip to Elmore for Axminster before the Tigers travel to Barnstaple Town in the FA Vase on Saturday. Honiton host Elmore in the league this weekend.
Beer Albion turned on the style in the Sportslighting Devon Premier Cup, with Giles Basson, George Harwood, Tony Pinder and Jacob Rowe in a 4-0 defeat of Bere Alston United. Feniton, however, suffered a 9-2 humbling at home to North Molton Sports Club in the same competition.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here