Honiton Town face League Two side Exeter City in 2nd round of the St Luke’s Devon Bowl on Wednesday night at 7.30pm at Washbrook Meadows, home of Fellow SW Peninsula side Ottery St Mary.

Hippos vice chair, Andrew Symonds said: "We are very grateful to everyone involved at Ottery for answering our cry for help to put on this game against Exeter. They have been tremendous in their support."

Honiton drew Exeter City in the second round of the cup as they had a bye in the first round. Exeter beat Plymouth Marjon 2-0 to ensure a tie against the Hippos.

The need to play the game at Washbrook Meadows, is due to installation of the floodlights are not complete at Mountbatten Park. When situations arise like this, it is usual for the fixture to be swapped to the away team’s ground, but with St James Park already hosting several games this week, it was never going to be an option.

The St Luke’s Bowl is a cup that enters its 99th season, only halted for a World War, foot and mouth outbreak and worldwide pandemic. The cup is played for by Devon’s elite sides and a quick glance of the Grecians Archive shows that Exeter City have held the cup on over 20 occasions and regularly used to get crowds of over 5,000 supporters, including the record of 8,141, which saw them beat Plymouth Argyle 4-0 in 1964.

Looking at some of the players that have scored for the Grecians, you will see the names of Tony Kellow, also Honiton residents Bertie Cotiz and Steve Flack. A young Jamie Mackie also found the net in the Devon Bowl before moving on to play for a host of clubs and the Scottish National Team.

Coming more up to date, there is a current Premiership and England player, Ollie Watkins, whose name appears on the scoresheet on several occasions, including a hat trick in 2015 against Plymouth Parkway.

Over the last few years, it reads of a who’s who of players who are now established in the first team, including club captain and leading goal scorer Matt Jay. Others include Randall (now Peterborough), Key, Hartridge, Seymour and Archie Collins. We may see another member of the Collins family tonight as Archies brothers Eli and Zach are in the Grecians squad, with Eli having featured in the first round for the Grecians.

Andrew continued: "We hope as many people come to Ottery to watch us play Exeter for the first time in living history. The Otters committee have ensure that there will be hot food and the bar opens from 6pm."

Entry for the game will be cash on the gate, which also opens from 6pm, and will be £5 per adult and £3 for u16s and concessions. A family ticket of £10 is available for 2 adults with 2 children.

Kick off is at 7.30pm.