Exmouth Town Reserves 5, Axmouth United 1 Axmouth United went down to a heavy defeat on a freezing afternoon at Southern Road, Exmouth.

United started the game brightly and deservedly took the lead when Charlie Clarke’s industry helped set up Asa Sandman to score.

The home side were on the back foot and further pressure should have seen more goals, but Scott Dyer put one effort marginally over the bar and another cannoned back into play off an upright.

Just before the break the hosts levelled. United seemed to have remained in the warmth of the dressing room during the second half when their performance was the complete opposite to what they had produced in the first 45 minutes! A period of poor massing and error making led to the opposition scoring four times to bag a comfortable victory.

Tempers took over late on and, when a brawl broke out, two players were despatched for an early shower.

United boss Laurie Forino said: “What a transformation in performance from one half to the other! In the first half everything we did was good and we were very positive. After the break it was the opposite and I found it hard to believe I was watching the same set of players in United shirts! I feel we beat ourselves for the opposition were certainly not a better team than us. I was disappointed that we allowed ourselves to get drawn into situations and that helped us take our eye off the ball. That said, the players are an honest bunch. They all know it was poor and it’s a performance to quickly write off and move onto the next game.”

That next action is this Saturday when United travel to meet Woodbury.