Tag: belli cup

Drake Scuppered Near The Hoe

Holders Out: Buckfastleigh Rangers (green), pictured here in last season’s final, are out of the Belli Cup following a 2-1 loss at home to Waldon Athletic. ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR

In the game of the day between the top two teams in Division Four of the Torbay Clearance Services League, Chudleigh Athletic Seconds inflicted the first defeat of the season for Drake FC. In an end-to-end game that was a credit to the South Devon Football League, three goals from the visitors, courtesy of Ben Hamilton-Hill, Gavin Lake and Kai Stocker, secured the points to take back up the A38. The win keeps the Maroons well on course for promotion in second place behind Drake but with fewer games to play. Liverton, Kingsteignton, Elburton and Broadhempston can all catch the top two with their games in hand, and none of these teams played last weekend. The only other league game played in Division Four was at the bottom where South Brent Seconds and Barton Athletic Seconds shared the points in a 2 – 2 draw. Two of the delayed divisional cup first round games finally went ahead and resulted in safe passage to the next round for Elburton Villa Thirds, who who had a comfortable 8 – 1 home win against Babbacombe Corries Seconds, and Liverton United Seconds also took the brakes off, winning 5-nil versus Paignton Villa Thirds.

In Division Three, Liverton United moved into one of the automatic promotion places with a 5-nil win on the 3G at South Devon College against Paignton Saints Thirds. As a club, Liverton have certainly been on a rollercoaster of a journey from twice being crowned champions of the South West Pennisula League at Step 6 in the football pyramid to having just one team in the bottom division of the South Devon Football League, and whilst players will always come and go at a whim, or God forbid they have to sit on the bench, it is the people behind the scenes that pick up the pieces and keep football clubs afloat, and full credit to Sue and Chris Stephens, with Norman cutting the grass when he is able, is the main reason that clubs like Liverton United survive, and with both of their teams growing in confidence, the club is in a positive mode.

There was only one game that survived Fridays downpour in Division Two and that was at Whiterock where Paignton Villa Seconds surrendered to Bovey Tracey Seconds who, with a 5-nil win, remain in fifth place but are now only two points off the top with three games in hand. Lewis Perring and Mathew Churchill got two goals each, and Alistair Chuchuk got a single for the Moorlanders who are looking good for consecutive promotions.

In Divisions One’s only game, Upton Athletic rolled back the years in their relegation six-pointer versus Buckfastleigh Rangers Reserves; a 10 – 1 victory moves them out of the bottom two on goal difference. Sam Lamburn scored four, Jamie Lane hit a hat-trick and there were singles for Callum Dunn, Keiron Nixon and Shaun Johhansen.

Just two Premier games survived, one in the divisional cup and one in the league. Brixham AFC Seconds’ recent good run of form was halted at Loddiswell where Beesands Rovers managed to put a halt to their recent run of poor form and produced a 5 – 1 win that puts them in fifth place but leaves the Fishermen with some work to do. Aiden Bovey was on target for the visitors but strikes from Adam Winkworth, on three minutes, and 17 year-old Alex Smith put the Bees on track; Jack Eades and Louis Brace scored singles which secured the points for the the home team.

Jacob Knapman scores the winning goal for Waldon, from the penalty spot, in their 2-1 Belli Cup win. Photo contributed by SDFL.

The other game was a real heavyweight tussle between two of the Premier league’s more solid teams and the conditions certainly helped them live up to their reputation. Full credit goes to the groundsteam at Buckfastleigh for preparing the pitch to be playable, and full credit to the players for trying to play football in very heavy conditions, and they all had to work hard as the pitch did deteriorate as time went on. Louis Roberts scored in the first half for Waldon Athletic and Jacob Knapman scored the winning goal from the penalty spot following a clumsy challenge which probably was not helped by the sticky conditions to put Waldon into the next round of the George Belli Cup with a mouth-watering home game against Ilsington Villa on 16th March.

Games to catch on Saturday 9th March.

In the Torbay Clearance Services Herald Cup, it’s quarter-final stage and Elburton Villa Reserves (Premier) welcome Newton Spurs Reserves (Division One), Ilsington Villa (Premier) welcome Brixham Town (Division One) and hopefully the two delayed games featuring Newton ’66 (Premier) and South Brent (Division Three) and the all-Premier tie between WBB and Morley Rangers will finally get played. Elsewhere in the divisional cups, Ivybridge Reserves host Paignton Saints which should be a great game. There is another relegation six-pointer at Buckfastleigh where the Reserves host Harbertonford.

For all of this weeks games, click TCSSDFL Fixtures on the menu bar.

ilsington villa v kingsteignton athletic herald cup semi-final

Divisional Cups: Villa Dispatch Rams as Fisherman Fight Back to Oust Bees

Ilsington Villa made amends for their 2022 Herald Cup semi-final defeat (pictured) by knocking Kingsteignton out of the Belli Cup. ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR

Despite a Saturday morning downpour 11 games went ahead and a big shout out to club volunteers who gave up their time to prepare the pitches for play, especially those who play on grass. Well done and thank you.

There were a number of divisional cup games scheduled, and in the Belli Cup, which is the knockout competition for Premier league teams, without doubt the game of the day featured the top two in the division. Kingsteington Athletic and Ilsington Villa have only met a couple of times in recent years, due to being in different divisions, but the games have always been a great advert for grassroots football and this game did not disappoint. In a pulsating first 45 minutes, Jason Jones was on target for the Rams just before the break, and having spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for dissent, Daniel Langford repaid his team-mates for letting them down by scoring his 13th goal of the season in as many games; he remains the team’s top striker. At the other end of the goal scoring chart, Darren Rowe, making only his fourth start for the Moorlanders, scored his first goal of the season to give his side a 2-nil lead, and it was enough to see Ilsington Villa progress into the second round. Also safely through to round two are Brixham AFC where a revival in fortunes seems to be happening. At 2-nil down, the home team looked to be going out of the cup, but three second half goals secured a 3 – 2 victory against a Beesands Rovers side that are going in the opposite direction; goals from Callum Glew (2) and Noah Green will have put some smiles on the faces of the Wall Park faithful.

In the league, only one Premier Division game went ahead, and East Allington took a giant step in their quest for status in the top division by beating fellow relegation candidates Chudleigh Athletic by 4 goals to 1. Robbie Chalk, Martin Finneron, and brothers Ben and Rob Tapper secured the points for the Pirates taking them 9 points clear of the bottom two who did not play.

In the Dartmouth Cup for teams in Division One, there was a straight forward 5-nil win for Brixham Town against Upton Athletic at Armada Park, and at Long Lane, Totnes and Dartington, who seem to be getting better every week, had a tremendous result in dispatching a very strong Watcombe Wanderers team by 5 goals to 2. Joshua Squires and Jack Whitby got two goals each and James Blackshaw scored a single. Sam Pyne and Keiron Dale were on target for the Greens but there is no doubt that the T and D team are a team to watch.

Only one league game was played, and Paignton Villa moved into mid table by beating Harbertonford by 3 goals to 2. Both these teams only have 6 league games to play but should be safe from the drop.

In Division Two, positions are starting to take shape at the top. Unbeaten Bovey Tracey Reserves remain in fourth place, but with games in hand, thanks to a 4 – 2 win against a stubborn Barton Athletic at Barton Downs. Lewis Perring scored twice with Clifford Walters and Mathew Churchill getting singles; that keeps Bovey on course for consecutive promotions. Also in the mix are pre-season favourites Paignton Saints Seconds. Having been relegated to make way for their first team, they are looking to be back where they should be, but of course that also depends on their first team moving up. A 5-nil win against bottom side Brixham Town Seconds has moved them into second place in a division where one point separates three teams.

In Division Three, only one game went ahead and Paignton Saints Thirds moved 8 points clear of the drop in an 11 goal thriller on the 3g at South Devon College against Newton Abbot ’66 Seconds.

Game of the day in Division Four went the way of Drake FC who remain unbeaten and are now five points clear at the top after an 8 – 1 win over an improving Broadhempston United team with Lewis Thomas scoring four and Callum Collings, Oliver Wells and Oliver Hodgson making short work of their Saturday afternoon. The other game played in this division was in the Les Bishop knockout competition where Chudleigh Athletic Seconds progressed to round two with a 5-nil win at South Brent; Lloyd Hitchins, Gavin Lake, George Nicholls, Christian Williams and Dan Martin all got on the scoresheet for the Maroons.

With another wet week of weather predicted, who knows what games will be played in the Torbay Clearance Services League but you can get up to date information on full time. Click TCSSDFL Fixtures on the menu bar.

My games to catch on Saturday 24th February are: in the Herald Cup at Osborne Park is a potential banana skin for Newton Abbot ’66 (Premier) versus South Brent (Div 3) or a relegation battle at Chudleigh where the visitors are WBB. There is a South Hams derby at Loddiswell where families come together for Beesands Rovers versus East Allington United. In Division One, two promotion candidates meet at Newton Rec where Spurs Seconds take on Ivybridge Town Reserves in a game that could open up a gap at the top, and at the top of Division Three, Totnes and Dartington Seconds welcome Liverton United where only two points separate them (at the moment). The stand out game in Division Four is between the top two: Drake FC host Kingsteignton Athletic Seconds and a home win could see silverware heading for Plymouth in their first season in the Torbay Clearance Services League. There are so many great games to catch and spring is just around the corner, so why not get out in the last of the winter weather and support your local football team.