Brixham AFC v Hartpury University AFC

Report

Report by Peter ‘Pedro’ Walcroft. Photo ©Dylan Knight

Checking my records, I noted that another visit to the More Seafood ground in Wall Park Road, home of Brixham AFC was long overdue, the previous visit being way back in September 2025!!

The visitors last Saturday were Hartpury FC, representing a former agricultural college, situated roughly five miles north of Gloucester. In recent years, the college achieved university status, and was this year awarded the title of Specialist University of the Year 2026 by the Times & Sunday Times, no less!  To roughly translate that, you could say FarmsR us, or similar! A certain Martin Clunes (aka Doc Martin) was sworn in, in 2024, as Chancellor of this blossoming centre of learning, which has over 3,000 students resident in term time. For lovers of the oval ball, their women’s rugby team have just been crowned Women’s Super League champs for the fourth season running.

My own interest in this university team probably generates from growing up in Oxford, where the University football team first dominated the late Victorian era, reaching the FA Cup Final on three occasions, and actually winning it in 1874 when they beat the Royal Engineers. Fast forward to the post-WW2 era: in 1948, a combined Oxford and Cambridge university side known as Pegasus AFC burst on to the amateur football scene, and like their Victorian predecesssors, actually reached two FA Amateur Cup Finals in the 1950-51 and 1952-53 seasons, triumphing 2-1 against Bishop Auckland in the first, then 6-0 over Harwich & Parkeston in the second in front of a full crowd of 100,000 at the old Wembley Stadium.  They played at the Iffley Road stadium in Oxford, the pitch surrounded by the famous cinder running track on which Sir Roger Bannister achieved the first ever sub-four minute mile in 1954. Just a few short years after this, I found myself donning running spikes to compete on this icon, for my school, in the local athletics competition, not with any great success, one should add! Pegasus folded in 1963, but Oxford University FC still play at the Iffley Road venue, competing in the league system for universities and colleges (BUCS).

More recently, do you remember Team Bath FC? They flared brightly on the semi-pro scene from 1999 until 2009, achieving Conference South (now known as NLS) status before finally disbanding. They achieved a creditable 11^th in their only season at Step 2 level. They groundshared with Bath City FC at the latter’s Twerton Park Stadium. The team, comprising a mixture of Bath Spa University students and semi-pro players, had a rapid progression through the semi-pro leagues and even reached the FA Cup First Round proper, bowing out 2-4 to Mansfield Town in the 2002-03 season. Crowd attendances were poor though, and there was talk of a merger with their landlords BCFC, but it did not happen and sadly, the flame went out as they folded, after just ten tempestuous seasons, in 2009.

Returning to the present day, the Koraq was parked up and entrance to the tight little ground was gained via a £7 concession charge plus £2 for our good friend Ian W’s superb programme, packed full of diversions to catch up on, in my case, after the action. His programmes must be unique for using a tongue-in-cheek quote from the Bible to announce the match referee!!  Keep up the good work, sir!

The club have gradually updated and improved their viewing area outside the warm, friendly clubhouse, with the  shallow terracing to the left now covered, and in addition, a small section of the standing area behind the Wall Park Road goalmouth has been covered. Further improvements seem likely alongside the limited parking area behind the clubhouse, as and when funds permit.

STATS

So with the conditions thankfully dry and the pitch  looking in good shape, the saintly man in black, ref Neil Lane, blew to commence Brixham’s first home match for six weeks.

Brixham had suffered a 1-7 reverse in the corresponding fixture on 1st November, a result which maybe sums up their harsh introduction to life at Step 4 of the Pyramid, with some quite serious playing budgets being touted, not least at current leaders Frome Town, who look odds on title contenders, already 14 points clear of the second placed side.

Match Action

11 min. After the early midfield skirmishes, the home side came mighty close to opening the scoring, when striker Lucas Robinson hit the post, only to see the rebound cleared off the line by a defender.

20 min. A well-struck Hartpury free kick into a busy box saw Vanylson Silva connect with a firm effort, which flew across goal past ‘keeper Dan Gillard’s far post.

30 min. Play had become very disjointed with much verbal explosion after almost every 50/50 tackle, as each side sought to gain ascendancy.  Brixham centre-back Callum Rose received the first yellow for one such encounter. Scoring chances had become few and far between, with Hartpury centre-back Josh Roney coming to his side’s rescue on a couple of occasions.

HT 0-0

The Acorns applied more pressure at the start of the second period, and after Brixham’s Reece Somers had picked up a yellow for a heavy tackle on Leon Machisa, Hartpury took the lead.

54 min. Whippy winger Silva went on a surging run to the edge of the area before drilling a low shot across Gillard into the left corner. The shot was slightly deflected, but home supporting opinion was that maybe ‘keeper Gillard should have kept that one out!  0-1

57 min.  Brixham thought that they had equalised when Somers fed Robinson who neatly lobbed the advancing Seth Locke only to watch as a defender again cleared off the line, but it wouldn’t have counted as the linesman had raised his flag, a decision questioned by the watching home fraternity!

As frustration crept in, Brixham coach Jason Couch gradually freshened his squad with substitutions, but try as they might, they couldn’t pierce a resilient Hartpury defence, and as the final whistle neared, first Rose received his second yellow, and headed for an early bath, soon followed by Acorns’ sub Keon Sanniola who had been booked for time wasting then opened his mouth once too often and so had to go!!  Mr. Lane was, of course, just living up to his programme caricature brandishing a red card …………….Oh ye of little faith!

87 min. Brixham kept plugging away, and from a neat attack down the right, initiated by Cole Harford who played in James De Selincourt, the latter wheeled away in despair as his effort was gratefully grabbed by the diving Locke.

FT 0-1 (Goal: Silva 54 min)

Attendance: 160

Verdict: A disappointing game, rightly, in my view, awarded 2 stars by the NLP, where too much complaining  followed by temper and tantrums seemed to prevail. Ian W, stood next  to me in the second half, commented that referee Lane seemed to be very lenient, certainly compared to some of the officials I have watched at Plainmoor this season!!

However, it’s another three points dropped for the home side who slip to second from bottom, whilst Hartpury remain in 7th. Goals are what they are missing, as can  be seen from the stats above, and they certainly seem to be missing injured striker Charlie Johansen. The home side face Devon rivals Exmouth Town, at home again, next Tuesday evening, and will hope for at least a point or, better still, a win to lift their spirits.

Teams

Brixham: Gillard; Beattie (c), Rose, Gleeson; Somers, Parkin, Harford, Ewing; De Selincourt, Moxon, L. Robinson. Subs: (Used) Wellington, Edwards, Howarth, Hancox (Unused) Herbert.

Hartpury: Locke; Kent, Roney, Machisa, Callow; Prifti, Manning, Aldridge; Osborn (c), Silva, Coates. Subs: (Used) Sims, Sanniola (Unused) D. Robinson, Shyamapant, Symons.