Seaton sail into round two of East Devon Senior Cup

The Devon & Exeter premier division side went into the game unbeaten but still looking to win their first game. And despite missing several regular players, it was a chance to build on performances.

They started very brightly against the division one visitors and their dominance was rewarded on 10 minutes with a neat finish from Josh French.

The next 10 minutes were ruled by the home side and, if not for some fortunate goalkeeping and wastefulness, the game should and could have been over.

Sadly, Seaton stepped down and let a very useful looking Wellington back into it and on the 30 minute mark it was 1-1.

Seaton, now under a bit of pressure from a very talented midfield, dug in with Will House was making some vital late tackles; from one such tackle, they broke clear and won a penalty which was despatched coolly by French to give the hosts a 2-1 lead at half-time.

A change in personnel at half-time disrupted Seaton for a while and Wellington poured forward relentlessly and deservedly levelled on the hour mark.

Seaton were well up for the battle though, and started winning the ball in important parts of the pitch. The midfield by now were winning all the 50/50s and after a swift break, Max Richardson finished a good team move.

By now it was a very open game but the visitors had become ragged and Matt Hancock had grasped the middle of the park.

Several chances to kill the game came and went before Wellington came very close from a corner.

As fingers were being pointed, Seaton broke out and French clinically sealed the win and his hat-trick with two minutes to go.

Assistant manager Oggy said: “Josh French will get the headlines for his three goals, but for me it was a team effort from the lads; from those who stepped up from the reserves to the usual first-teamers, absolutely everyone put a shift in and should be proud of that.

“Special mention to the referee, M Davis, without doubt one of the best performances I’ve seen for several years.”