Honiton Town boss Kev Blackwell felt his side dropped two points, rather than gained one, when the Hippos came back from 2-1 down to share a 2-2 draw with Newton St Cyres in their last Macron League Premier Division match in the month of February.

The Town chief said: “Newton St Cyres were certainly much improved fro when I had recently watched them.

“By all accounts they had a number of youngsters – as many as five – recently released by Exeter City – and they could play, that’s for sure!

“I suspect they [Newton St Cyres] will feel the point is the least they deserved and, on a day when precious little seemed to go right for us – beyond another fine finish from young Blake [Freemantle] – I have to stick with my ardent belief that, despite Newtown losing, it’s two dropped rather than one point gained.”

Blackwell concluded: “I also think the title race is now a three team affair. Elmore’s 5-1 win over Feniton will give them real hope and I think it’s now a shoot out between ourselves, Newtown and Elmore and given we play both those teams twice between now and the end of the season you could argue that the title is ours to win from here – if we can remain focussed and determined to deliver game by game.

“For my money, it’s in our hands and I’ll be drumming that into the players from hereon in.”