A pair of goals from skipper Ben Ede – one of them from the penalty spot – helped Honiton Town to what is a ‘massive’ win in terms of their South West Peninsula League Eastern Division season.

A pair of goals from skipper Ben Ede – one of them from the penalty spot – helped Honiton Town to what is a ‘massive’ win in terms of their South West Peninsula League Eastern Division season.

Playing on Sunday, the Hippos went into the game with Torridgeside knowing that the North Devon side had played the day before when they went down 1-0 to Alphington – a result which made it all the more important that Town bag all three points from this latest outing.

The Hippos got the perfect start with a second minute goal from Ash Small. Ede then slammed home a spot kick on the half hour.

The Town cause was helped by a straight red card issued to one of the visiting players and then, shortly after Joe Mulhall replaced Joe Dixon, Martyn Hancock struck to make it 3-0.

Five minutes later the lead was pegged back with a Torridgeside goal, and, when the North Devon side scored a second, many of another good Mountbatten Park turnout must have feared the worst.

However, Ede, leading from the front, eased any home angst with his second of the game after which Town saw the game out to bank three precious points.

The win does not change the Town position in the Eastern Division – they stay fourth bottom, but, and of greater importance, they move eight points clear of the bottom two and that, it does seem, is going to be too big a gap for the current basement dwellers to make up in a congested end of season.

Town have seven games remaining and, to be sure of avoiding a bottom two finish, they probably require five more points from their remaining seven games which are:

April 18 Home v St Martins

April 21 Home v Axminster Town

April 24 Home v University

April 28 Home v Bovey Tracey

April 30 Home v Newton Abbot Spurs

May 2 Home v Alphington

May 7 Away v Appledore

Following the Honiton Town 4-2 win over Torridgeside and a 5-1 home win for Appledore over Axminster Town, the ‘bottom seven positions’ in the South West Peninsula League, Eastern Division are:

P W D L F A Pts

Appledore 25 8 5 12 35 57 29

Sidmouth Town 27 7 6 14 48 60 27

Honiton Town 25 7 4 14 42 59 25

Alphington 24 5 4 15 27 59 19

Galmpton & Roselands 25 5 2 18 28 54 17

Liverton United 26 4 3 19 28 79 15