TORBAY CLEARANCE SERVICES, SOUTH DEVON FOOTBALL LEAGUE. WEEKLY MATCH REPORTS 10th MAY, report by Alastair Muirden. Photo of Dartmouth Cup winners, The Windmill FC contributed by SDFL
For the first time in the long history of the South Devon Football League, two Plymouth based teams reached the final of the Division One Dartmouth Cup. Plymouth Phoenix versus The Windmill, two teams that have enjoyed an extraordinary season in the league and county cup competitions, met at Buckfastleigh Rangers FC on Friday 9th May in what promised to be a treat for South Devon League followers. But I have to say they made the crowd wait for their treats.
The game started brightly enough with both teams having early moments in front of goal. Just 4 minutes in and David Moore had a header cleared off the line for Phoenix and, at the other end, Jack Briscoe was causing all sorts of problems for the Phoenix defence. But having two teams that are not used to losing had an effect on the game as they both cancelled each other out for a long period of time; Sam Doyle picked up an early yellow card for a poor challenge and in the 42nd minute, the Windmill supporters felt that Carlton Allen was fortunate to stay on the pitch following a challenge on Sam Wells in the Windmill goal, but the referee spoke to his assistant and they both agreed that it was worthy of a yellow card.
The second half was more competitive with both teams opening up for a win, and a few substitutions were made and a few more yellow cards were issued for poor challenges, but what was more noticeable was that Windmill were having the better chances and Phoenix could not deal with Jack Briscoe whilst at the back, Chey Hammond seemed to be covering a lot of ground to keep any Phoenix attacks under control; in the 67th minute, Briscoe had a header hit the underside of the bar and bounce on the line and just 2 minutes later, he had a blistering shot that went just over the bar, and Windmill were definitely knocking at the door. On 71 minutes, another Windmill attack came to nothing but as the Phoenix skipper tried to control the ball, it bounced up and hit his arm that was outstretched and the referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Louis Godwin who put the ball straight down the middle, and the Phoenix ‘keeper could do nothing to stop it. 1-nil Windmill. At this point, Phoenix threw everything at the game; Ashley White hit the bar from a free-kick, Jamie Grindrod got himself sent off for throwing the ball at somebody in the dug out, out of frustration, and at the other end with time running out, Jack Biscoe got his reward when he chipped the ‘keeper from close range to make it 2-nil to Windmill and ensure that it would be Glynn, Kevin and Cora that were taking the Dartmouth Cup back down the A38.

The sponsors for the Dartmouth Cup are Francis Clark Accountants, and they judged that the Windmill skipper Chey Hammond (pictured) was the man of the match and presented him with a commemorative glass.
In the Premier Division midweek games, Newton Abbot Spurs Reserves once again called on their resources, as did their opponents Waldon Athletic, but the Torquay side were off the pace and still suffering a Herald Cup hangover as Spurs took another step towards being crowned champions. Toby Pullman scored 4 of the 9 goals that puts Spurs 5 points behind Ilsington Villa with 2 games in hand.
Move forward to Friday 9th May and Newton Abbot Spurs are back in action again, this time against relegation threatened Chudleigh Athletic who were no match for the now favourites to become the SDFL champions for the first time in the history of the club’s 2nd team; a 5 – 1 victory, thanks to goals from Toby Pullman, Callum Noyce and Jack Upshire, leaves them with 2 games to win against Waldon Athletic and Totnes and Dartington. Meanwhile, Chudleigh only have 1 game to play, also against Waldon, where they need a win to give themselves a chance of retaining Premier Division status.
Ilsington Villa remain in pole position after their final game of the season, but Beesands Rovers will be mightily proud of holding the Moorlanders to a 2-2 draw at Loddiswell in the sunshine; Ilsington led twice but could not hold on to either lead; Jack Eades equalized from the spot in the first half and Adam Winkworth scored in the dying seconds to earn a point for the Bees. It looks like Beesands are still going to need a win from playing East Allington or Kingsteignton; that is depending on the outcome of the Waldon v Chudleigh game.
East Allington United must be wishing they could go back to the future with their their end of season form having only lost one of their last eight games; this week’s 4-1 victory over Totnes and Dartington sees the Pirates up to fifth place and a top four place is a possibility for this team who at Easter were 2 points off a relegation spot; there must be something in the water, or it’s Geraldine’s after game biscuits that has helped the team.
In Division One, the games are coming thick and fast for Phoenix who made the long trek to Brixham Town on Tuesday and came away with a 7-1 win thanks to 4 more goals for David Moore’s season tally of 36 so far. Phoenix are 6 points behind True Blues with 3 games in hand. In fact, Phoenix still have 5 games to play in the last two weeks of the season, and 2 of them are against True Blues.
Brixham Town closed out their season with a trip to face Bovey Tracey Reserves, and it ended with a disappointing 4-1 defeat for the Fishermen; on the flip side, Bovey are cemented in fourth place and could nick third if The Windmill slip up, and they both meet on the last day of the season. On target for Bovey were Ben Moyle, Ryan Stanbridge, and a worldy from Christian Fleet was the highlight of the afternoon.
The gap at the top of Division Two that Mount Gould have been working away at over the past few weeks is now down to 3 points; their midweek outing at Buckfastleigh Rangers Seconds resulted in a 7-nil win helped by a Joshua Bance hat trick, and they are looking go joint top with a win at Watcombe Wanderers Seconds at the weekend which is exactly what happened; the 7-nil scoreline, thanks to 4 goals from Nathen Lang and a couple from Jack Trigger, was enough to put the Mounties top on goal difference, a point away from the formality of being crowned Division Two champions on their journey back to the football pyramid. The only other game in this division was at Halford where Liverton United had another good win; a 5-3 scoreline leaves them needing just two points to guarantee that spot; only East Allington Seconds, Paignton Saints Seconds and Watcombe Seconds can also finish third in what has been a great competition, but congratulations are due to Mount Gould and Barton Athletic who will be playing in Division One next term.
The top of the table game in Division Three was at Ashburton where they welcomed the only team that can beat them to the title in Elburton Villa Thirds. In a game that was a credit to this division, the visitors ran out 4-2 winners and the Ashes will have to wait another week until they visit Newton Abbot ’66 Seconds to get the win that is needed to clinch the division title. Elburton return to Plymouth with the points that take them to within one point of the runners-up spot should Ashes win at ’66. Should that not happen, then Villa can take the title with a win at South Brent and Paignton Saints Thirds. Now is probably not a good moment to mention that a league officer was at the Ashburton game with the Division Three trophy for presentation; perhaps he will stay away from the ’66 game!! Three other games were played in this division, and Liverton United Seconds made the trip to Brixham Town Seconds, and came away with a 3-1 victory; South Brent, who still have five games to play in the next 14 days, will have been disappointed to lose 1-nil at home to Stoke Gabriel TP, and Newton Abbot ’66 Seconds, who have had a really good season, beat Paignton Saints Thirds by 4 goals to 1; Macualey Kerr, Alfie Luscombe and Russell Ellis were on target for Sixes.
With just two weeks of the grassroots season left, it should be noted that only one of the South Devon Football League’s five divisions has a confirmed champion and runner-up, That is, of course, Division Four where Kingskerswell won the title with an unbeaten season and Templer Way finished second in their first season in Saturday football.
The Premier Division will be won by Newton Abbot Spurs Seconds or Ilsington Villa; the relegation spots will be Elburton Villa Reserves plus Beesands Rovers or Chudleigh Athletic.
Division One will be won by Phoenix or True Blues; runners-up will be either of them plus Windmill. The relegation spots will be Ivybridge Town Reserves plus Watcombe Wanderers, Paignton Villa or Newton Abbot Spurs Thirds.
Division Two will be won by Mount Gould, unless they concede 27 goals in their last three games, and runners-up will be Barton Athletic. The relegation spots will be Buckfastleigh Rangers Seconds and Ipplepen Athletic Seconds.
Division Three will be won by Ashburton or Elburton Villa Thirds. Drake FC could get runners-up if Elburton lose their last two games. The relegation spots will be Brixham Town Seconds and Paignton Saints Thirds.
I can tell you that the league management committee are delighted with how good the competition has been this season, and to have only one confirmed champion with 14 days of the season left would have been on all of their wish lists.
Games to catch this week:
The Premier Division George Belli Cup Final between Totnes and Dartington and Newton Abbot Spurs Seconds will be played on Thursday 15th May at Liverton United with a 7pm KO.
Spurs are still in the hunt for a league and cup double and start the game as favourites as they won their only league encounter 5-nil; they still have to play again in the league at the Rec. But Tots have had some good scorelines in their promotion season and having knocked out Waldon and Paignton Saints en route to the final, plus knowing that Spurs cannot use squad players, will boost their confidence of crowning off a good season. There is plenty of parking at Dartington and a full bar and food service will be available alongside Pauline’s famous pasties.
Enjoy your final two weeks of grassroots football.