Teams off the mark in South Devon League

Week three of the Torbay Clearance Services football season saw a number of teams get their first points of the campaign and get their season off and running.

East Allington Utd had an impressive 3-0 win at Buckfastleigh Rangers, Finley Bullen and Ben Tapper were on target for the pirates against a Rangers team that have lost two of their three opening games.

Paignton Villa 1st team also got their first points with a great 4–3 win at Newton Abbot Spurs and also in Division One, Watcombe Wanderers 1st had a controlled 2-1 victory at WBB, a Sam Pyne double enough for the Greens following a traumatic start to their season.

A big shout out to Paignton Saints 3rds in Division Three, who, having conceded 24 goals in their first two games, managed a 4–1 home win versus Brixham Town 2nds, James Kinghorn, Jack Soper, Steve Pope and Alex Bishop were on target for the Saints, who move off the bottom. Stoke Gabriel TP also picked up their first three points of the season, a comfortable 7–1 win against Totnes and Dartington thanks to goals from Adam Blackburn, Russell Cooper, James Loram, Daniel Trezise and the evergreen Max Prestwood.

In the Premier Division, four teams remain unbeaten and goal difference separates three of them. Newton Abbot 66 lead the pack, a 3–2 home win against a Kingsteignton Athletic team yet to register a point was good enough for the Sixes, a double from Sam Cockram and a single from Ashley Dove was enough to excite the crowd who I am told could be heard in the far west of Cornwall!

Waldon Athletic also have maximum points and a 5–1 home win versus Chudleigh Athletic has given them a great start to the season, Totnes and Dartington, newly promoted from Division One, once again demonstrated the marginal difference in the top two divisions, remain in third place following a 6–1 victory over Beesands Rovers. This is the second time these teams have met in three weeks and the South Hams outfit will be glad to see the back of the Totnes team and move on to some fresh faces.

Last season’s champions, Ilsington Villa, are nicely settled into fourth place on six points from two games, a 3–1 win at Elburton Villa with goals from, yes you guessed it, Daniel Langford, Matt Warman and Luke Pilkington did the business for the Moorlanders. As for Elburton Villa, they finished the game with 10 players and are still looking for their first points of the season, which I am sure will come soon.

Newton Abbot Spurs 2nds, who have won two on the bounce after losing on the opening day at Waldon, had a close 2–1 win at Paignton Saints and still look a strong prospect to challenge in the top division.

Division One, as promised, continues to impress. Whilst Pheonix remain at the top with three others on maximum points they must be delighted with the competition. A 2-0 home win came against a Buckland Athletic team who made them work for the points, goals from Carlton Allen and David Moore were enough for the Plymouth team to move on to nine points from three games.

There was a similar game at Brixham AFC who hosted another new team from the west in True Blues, the home team must have been dreading the game having conceded 24 goals in their opening two games, but credit where credit is due. Yes, they used the resources available to them and for the moral non-believers, everybody has done it for decades.

A double strike from Connor Byrne was enough to keep the Blues in second place on goal difference, which can be seen on the league table.

Brixham Town are also on maximum points and deserve to be, a 5–3 thriller at JC park against an Ivybridge Town team that have lost two out of three and need a win to get their season back on track.

Bovey Tracey remain in fourth on six points from two games and did not play a league game as they were on County Cup duty. Interestingly, they beat Windmill 2–1 in an ill-tempered Senior Cup game that saw the Plymouth-based team end the game with less players than they started it with.

Division Two now only has two teams on maximum points and its Barton Athletic who lead the way, closely followed by Mount Gould, both on nine points from three games.

Barton Athletic had a great 5–1 win in the Torquay derby against a resurgent Upton Athletic and the Plymouth-based team were made to work for the points by Paignton Villa 2nd at White Rock. Goals from Bentley Alacantara and Arron Spear were enough to keep one of the pre-season favourites on course.

Just to clear up an interesting situation in this division is the question surrounding East Allington Utd 2nds who have yet to play a league game. They did play yesterday but in a County Cup and, as many people know, their home games rarely get postponed due to the weather, but a fixture backlog in September is a new one for me.

All eyes will be on their first league game on Saturday at home to Buckfastleigh Rangers 2nds and we may have another team on maximum points in this division if they win.

Division Three is shaping up nicely with four unbeaten teams, Drake FC lead the pack and their 10 goals this week versus Newton Abbot 66 2nds was certainly enough to beat most teams. In their previous two games, they have scored 7 and 13, and one player is making an early claim for the golden boot.

Kingsteignton Athletic 2nds could not meet the challenge of scoring 11 goals in each of their three opening fixtures, they had to settle for a 2–2 draw at home to Ashburton who have drawn two out of three fixtures, the Rams remain in second place.

Liverton Utd were on County Cup duty, where they lost on penalties to East Budleigh from the Exeter League but will be looking to continue their good league form on Saturday when they host Ashburton in a local derby, I wonder what the odds are for a draw!

Elburton Villa 3rds moved back into third place with a 4-0 win over Waldon Athletic 2nds to ensure that the four promoted teams take up the top four places at the moment.

There was some disappointing news from Division Four this week, as Watcombe Wanderers 3rds have applied to the league to withdraw their team from the competition. If the league agree then the two results from their games will be expunged and it begs another question in how difficult is it to run three teams in one competition.

So hats off time to the hardworking volunteers at Waldon Athletic / Paignton Saints and Paignton Villa for the tremendous work they do behind the scenes. Newton Abbot Spurs and Elburton Villa also run three teams but not all in SDFL.

There are three teams in this division on maximum points, Broadhempston Utd continued their impressive start to the season with a 4–1 home win against Barton Athletic 2nds. On their tails are the two new teams to the Torbay Clearance Services League, Templar Way made it two wins from two games, a Chris Bennett hat-trick, his second treble in two games, along with a double from Jamie Bowen and a single from Seb Shaw ensured a perfect start to the season for the Bishopsteignton based team.

Kingskerswell FC had the biggest win of the day, an 11-0 demolition at Kingsbridge and Kellaton Utd will soften the blow as they are one of the teams that may be affected by the Watcombe Wanderers withdrawal.

Chudleigh Athletic 2nds remain in third place with two wins from three games, they matched the top score of the day, also winning 11-0 against Waldon Athletic 3rds, there were hat-tricks for Liam Chubb and Gavin Lake helped by singles from Wilson Bryce, Ben Hamilton Hill, George Nichols, Christian Williams and Daniel Martin.

This weekend, two heavy weight games in the Premier Division take place, one at Buckfastleigh where Rangers host Kingsteignton Athletic and up at Ilsington where Villa will welcome Newton Abbot 66.

Down the A38 at Ivybridge is where Bovey Tracey will have to travel, both teams are early season promotion contenders, so it will be worth the drive. Also in Division One, Brixham AFC host Paignton Villa.

In Division Two, Mount Gould get another taste of South Devon hospitality when they visit Armada Park to face Babbacombe Corries and in Division Three, a local derby at Halford where Liverton Utd and Ashburton lock horns. And the stand-out game in Division Four is at Micheals Field in Bishopsteignton where two of the new teams to the competition meet, Templar Way v Kingskerswell. All league games kicks off at 2.30pm.

Enjoy your grassroots football.