Honiton Town thirds were winners by the odd goal in five when they met Chagford Reserves.

Town boss Andrew Pike went into the game with 13 players, two of which were carrying injuries. This all came about as five regular third team players had been promoted to either reserves or first team action.

After falling behind to a goal that was against the run of play, Town deservedly levelled when Ryan Pike calmly slotted home the first chance that came his way.

It remained 1-1 until early in the second half when Pike struck again to give Town the lead, the goal arriving after a period of controlled possession.

Chagford missed a penalty and then saw a number of scoring efforts splendidly saved by the outstanding Ricky Pollington in the Town goal. However, the Chagford pressure eventually told and the game was restored to parity at 2-2.

It was no more than Town deserved when Karl Allen fired a first time volley from the edge of the box with his weaker foot into the bottom corner of the net to give Andrew Pike’s men all three points.

One major plus for Town away from the victory was the debut for yet another teenager with 16-year-old Conor Flanagan joining the action from the bench and making a real nuisance of himself with a number of good penetrating runs.

A delighted boss Pike said: “Overall it was a fine performance which is quite something given the number of players who were unavailable to us. I thought the game was a good advert for Division Nine football.

“Now we need to show more of this sort of performance – and spirit – and get a good run going. On Saturday (October 8) Town thirds entertain East Budleigh Reserves.