Records tumble in the South Devon League

An incredible 136 goals were scored in the Torbay Clearance Services South Devon Football League this week and the high scorers were Kingsteignton Athletic 2nds, who scored 14 goals, followed closely by new boys Kingskerswell FC with 12, thankfully not in the same game.

In the Premier Division, Newton Abbot 66 and Waldon Athletic have a clear lead at the top following a 3-0 win at Buckfastleigh Rangers with goals from Ashley Dove and Callum Foskett putting last week’s disappointment behind them. For the Clarets, it was a 3-1 home win versus a Kingsteignton Athletic team yet to register a point leaves them as the only unbeaten team in the division.

The result that opens up the division was the 1-0 home defeat for champions Ilsington Villa against an East Allington Utd side that have won two of their three games and look to have found their mojo following a close encounter with Division One last season.

At the bottom of the division, Chudleigh Athletic picked up a massive three points with goals from Aiden Brown and Mathew Cobold against a Beesands Rovers team who have yet to register a point and have only scored four goals in four games since losing their talisman striker.

Elsewhere in the top division, Totnes and Dartington continue to gather points and a 1-1 draw with Elburton Villa keeps them in third place but five points off the leaders. Newton Abbot Spurs 2nds and Paignton Saints 1sts also shared a 1-1 draw and both seem to have settled in nicely to the Premier Division.

Division One’s final 100% records disappeared in a 0-0 draw at Bovey Tracey, where the hosts became the first team in nearly two years to prevent Pheonix from scoring in a game, it was a game that both teams could have won and Bovey’s John Agpoon will no doubt have some sleepless nights about his one-on-ones with the Plymouth custodian that ended up safely in the goalkeeper’s hands.

At times, I had to count the number of Pheonix players, as it seemed they had more than Bovey, but they are a good team and caused problems for the home team. Bovey were missing their own talisman up front but, to be fair to the defence who have only conceded one goal in four games, they should be delighted with the afternoon’s work.

Both remain unbeaten in the top three and what an advert for the South Devon Football League. Also, well done to the referee who had the game in his pocket all afternoon.

The other team in the top three are True Blues, who won 5-1 at WBB with strikes from Lee Phillips, Michael Storey and William Stringer. Paignton Villa had a great result, inflicting the first defeat of the season at Brixham Town, a 5-2 win was enough to put them into fourth place in the table.

Windmill FC recorded their second victory of the season and although they have only lost once, remain a fair way off the leaders with some games in hand. They enjoyed a 3-0 home win against an improving Brixham AFC side.

Just to prove that any team can beat any team in this division, Watcombe Wanderers thrashed Newton Abbot Spurs 7-1 and last week Spurs held True Blues to take a point. A Sam Pyne hat-trick, plus singles from Adam Townsend, Connor Finch and Keiron Dale were more than enough for the Greens, who are going to win more games than they lose this term.

In Division Two, Barton Athletic had to share the points with Harbertonford in a 3-3 thriller at Barton Downs. Seb Looker was again on target for the Fords, who are enjoying their football at a new level.

There was a 6-2 win for Mount Gould at Liverton Utd, thanks to four goals from Joe Jasper and a double from Bentley Alcantara just before being sent for an early shower by the referee. The result leaves the Plymouth-based team two points clear of Barton in second place and six points clear of Watcombe Wanderers 2nds in third place – they matched their first team with a 7-1 win over Buckfastleigh Rangers reserves at Long Lane. A Simon Ross hat-trick and a double from Rui De Garcia secured the points for the Greens.

East Allington Utd 2nds moved into fifth place with a 2-0 home win versus Babbacombe Corries and keep a 100 % start to the season.

Division Three is shaping up for a good competition and Drake FC finally got one over their rivals from last season, Liverton Utd, the final score was 4-2 but that does not tell the whole story. Apart from a great game of football with six goals, there were eight yellows a one red card, which no doubt kept the referee on his toes for the afternoon.

As a matter of interest, the County FA administer any cards in a game and the average cost for a yellow is £12 and a red can cost £55, plus a suspension, depending on the offence, so it pays to keep your cool in heated situations. For this game alone, Devon FA will pocket £151 in discipline fines.

Ashley Heyworth was the hero for Kingsteignton Athletic 2nds in a high-scoring game, he scored a double hat-trick in a 14-1 defeat of Brixham Town 2nds. Mark Prowse also scored just the one hat-trick and there were singles for Matt Hooper, Jason Jones, James Stafford and a double for Ashton Hogarth.

Stoke Gabriel TP are also well placed for a challenge this season, a 2-1 home win versus a good Elburton Villa team with goals from Adam Blackburn and Marc Hagland were enough for the Railwaymen to secure the points and keep it tight at the top.

Ashburton have also had a good start to the season and that continued with a 5-0 victory at Paignton Saints 3rds. Brandon Hext, Sam Whiffin and James Martin were on target for the Ashes, who are looking good in second spot in the division.

In Division Four, there appears to be three front runners at the moment. With Templar Way having no fixture, it gave the top three the opportunity to move ahead and all three took their chances.

In fact, Kingskerswell FC took 12 chances, as they showed Broadhempston Utd that they are most definitely back and looking to go up the divisions. The 12-0 defeat for Broads leaves them in fourth place but their positive goal difference is now a negative.

Chudleigh Athletic 2nds remain on top following a 3-0 win at the Theatre of Dreams, or Bakers Park to most, goals from Tom Stoppard, Daniel Martin and Oliver Williams won the points for the Clarets who also had a player sent off.

Teign Village have had a good start to the season at a new level and a 9-1 home win against Waldon Athletic 3rds will do no harm to the confidence of the footballers up in the village.

Paignton Villa 3rds picked up their first win of the season, a 6-2 home win at White Rock versus Barton Athletic 2nds moves them up to fourth from bottom but incredibly they still have a positive goal difference.

Just to say well done to the hardworking volunteers at Paignton Villa, who in recent weeks worked their socks off to repair the damage done to the Council-owned changing rooms following vandalism during the school holidays.

Most SDFL clubs are involved in County Cup matches on October 5, this gives the south area clubs the chance to pit their wits against strangers from the north and east of our county.

In the Premier Cup, Paignton Saints travel to Braunton, Buckfastleigh Rangers travel to Elmore in Tiverton, Ilsington Villa travel to Torridgeside and Newton Spurs travel to Boca Seniors in Barnstaple.

On October 12 in the Senior Cup, where the Torbay Clearance teams have dominated for the past few seasons, Buckland travel to Bideford, Mount Gould to Uffculme, Newton Spurs 3rds to Lympstone, WBB to South Zeal, Harbertonford to Exmouth, and in the Intermediate Cup, Newton Rovers travel to Tedburn St Mary. I estimate the mileage for these ten selected games comes to 1200 and at 40p per mile, that’s a staggering £480 and the County FA should be asking the clubs if they are happy with this.

The local teams that have received byes have league commitments and in the Premier Division, WBB face their second Plymouth challenge in two weeks with the visit of Windmill. In Division One, Brixham Town face Bovey Tracey at JC Park and Watcombe Wanderers 2nds host Liverton Utd at Long Lane.

In Division Four, Teign Village are at home to Templar Way, the two met on the opening day and served up a 4-3 win for Templar, so I am sure that teign will be giving the new boys a typical village welcome.

Enjoy your grassroots football.