Windmill blow away Paignton Villa in SDFL

Nobody saw this coming!

Following a week of dry misty weather with some overnight rain on Friday, 19 of the scheduled 26 fixtures in the Torbay Clearance Services South Devon Football League had to be postponed due to waterlogged pitches, which, in turn, caused the fixture secretary to spend Saturday afternoon at his desk rearranging games for February 22.

There were no games that survived in the top division, which will put a bit more pressure on those clubs with fixtures in hand.

In Division One, the only game to go ahead was in Plymouth at the Millenium pitches, where Windmill moved into second place in the league with a 6-0 demolition over fifth-placed Paignton Villa. Jack Biscoe and Ethen Jones both scored a brace, while Brodie Simpson and Chey Hammond added singles for the pub team.

The defeat for Villa leaves them in fifth place and it would appear to be a four-horse race with both Phoenix and Bovey Tracey sitting in third and fourth with games in hand. True Blues are five points clear and remain unbeaten, as are Phoenix, who have four games in hand.

In Division Two, Paignton Saints 2nds put a dent in the promotion hopes of Babbacombe Corries, a 4-3 victory at Coach Road moving Saints into mid-table and six points behind Corries with a game in hand.

There was a goal-fest in Harbertonford, who scored four times thanks to a brace from Jordan Ewing, plus Alan Hamlet and Luke Forward adding singles.

Unfortunately for the Fords, East Allington United 2nds used their squad strength and scored eight times to keep the Pirates in contention. Dan Bastin and Finlay Bullen hit five between them with Joe Kirby, Sam Quick and James Sheppard contributing to an end-to-end game played on a treacle like pitch. The result puts East Allington into fifth place in a division where the top seven are in the mix.

The only other Division Two game to get played was at Mount Gould, where the home team cruised to a 6-1 win over fellow contenders Paignton Villa 2nds. Both teams were level on points before the game but goals from Bentley Alcantara, Saddam Bello, Joe Jasper and Matt Hill moves the Plymouth side back into second place, just above Corries on goal difference.

Interestingly, East Allington and Liverton have five games in hand over the current leaders Barton Athletic, who remain 14 points clear.

No games survived in Division Three but the two that got played in Division Four went with the form book. Teign Village had a comfortable afternoon with a 5-0 home win against a Broadhempston United team that had enjoyed a promising start to the season.

The result keeps Village in third place, just one point behind Templar Way, who travel to fourth-placed Chudleigh Athletic 2nds this week knowing that with just two games remaining nothing less than a win will do.

Also in this division, Kingskerswell can wrap up the title on Saturday with a win at Paignton Villa 3rds and with three games remaining.

Games to catch on Saturday, February 22:

There are a host of significant fixtures to choose from this Saturday. The delayed opening round of the Division One Dartmouth Cup gets underway and, together with last week’s postponements, should make for a wide choice of grassroots football.

The good news for Division One clubs is that the management at WBB have worked their socks off to save the club from folding and will restart fixtures at Ivybridge Town, no doubt with a revived team.

Hopefully, Plymouth Phoenix will get to open their Dartmouth Cup account when they visit Newton Abbot Spurs 3rds at Chuley Road, having only played one league game since the turn of the year.

In the Premier League, Newton Abbot 66 will be looking to possibly climb on top of the table with a win over bottom side Elburton Villa and results elsewhere going in their favour.

There is a delayed and postponed Herald Cup game at East Allington United, where the top of Division One, Plymouth True Blues, will be looking to cause a cup upset, as will South Brent from Division Three, when they host Premier Division Waldon Athletic.

In Division Three, it’s 2nd versus 3rd at Stoke Gabriel TP, who welcome a Drake FC side looking to take the points back to Plymouth.

With loads of great grassroots football to watch, I expect the biggest crowd to be at my game of the week, which again involves Newton Abbot Spurs. This week, they host the champions and currently top of the table Ilsington Villa in a game where the visitors cannot afford to lose. This should be a great game, so get yourself along to the rec for 2.30pm.

Enjoy your grassroots football.