Post by Dave on Mar 18, 2023 10:00:49 GMT
Match Official Ollie Abercrombie
Final Score Watcombe Wanders 4 Totnes & Dartington 2
Match Preview
The Lidstone Cup is the divisional cup for the second division of the South Devon Football League. A different format has been used this year for all the divisional cups; each league has been divided into two groups. It looks to me that the two teams that finish in first and second place in each group, will progress to the semi-final stage.
Watcombe Wanderers were formed in 2008 and played at the King George playing field in Torquay and was one of the top teams playing in the South Devon league. The club always had ambitions to move up the football ladder and to help for fill those ambitions the club took over the Long Lane pitch at Haccombe Newton Abbot.
The club worked hard to make great improvements to the Long Road ground having to overcome many acts of mindless vandalism caused by local youths. It’s a ground they can be rightly proud of.
The first team did move up to the Devon League but they found it impossible to compete with the clubs who were paying their players, plus the players understandably did not like all the travelling involved. As a direct result Watcombe pulled their first team out of the Devon League.
The team now listed as the first team is really the second team and what a wonderful season they are enjoying. Sitting at the top of the division two table on forty points from the fourteen league games played so far. Winning thirteen of them and drawing the other, in fact the only team to take any points off Watcombe this season are today’s opponents. The two clubs met in the league at Long Lane on the 19th November and the match ended in a one all draw.
Totnes Dartington and Meadowbrook to give them their full name were formed as a merger of Dartington Sports Club and Totnes Town in 2005 with Meadowbrook joining them this season. The club were playing in the Peninsula League for a good number of years, but pulled out of it a number of seasons ago.
The last Tots game I covered at their Foxhole ground was way back on the 7th February 2015, a local derby against Brixham AFC in a Peninsula League fixture which they won by four goals to two.
Report On That Game
davesworld.proboards.com/thread/455/cswpl-div1-totnes-dartington-brixham
Totnes & Dartington SC are also enjoying a good season and sit in second place in the league table on twenty nine points from thirteen games played. Winning nine of them, drawing two and losing two, but I fear the gap is too big to knock Wanderers off the top spot.
Wanderers were in action in the Lidstone Cup on the 4th March when they played East Allington United 2nd away and won the game by three goals to two. This looks to be the first game in this cup for Totnes & Dartington.
Both clubs were knocked out of the Herald Cup in November and will want to get their hands on this cup. A hard one to call, it is a cup game and anything can happen, but Wanderers will feel they are slight favourites to win today’s’ encounter. May the best team win.
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Match Report.
Lets be honest you have to be brave to drive your car along Long Lane. More ups and downs than you will experience on a roller coaster, but fortune favours the brave as you will be treated to an exciting and quality game of football when you finally get to the ground.
One hour before the kick-off the rain fell and laid all over the pitch, the game was in danger of not going ahead. But it drained away and while the pitch was wet, it looked in very good condition for this time of the year.
I got caught out today, there was no sun at the start of the game but it came out during it. I ended up breaking my own rules as I found myself shooting with the sun in front of me. I was close to moving to the other side of the pitch, but I stayed where I was and used what skill I have to overcome the problem.
Two very good sides on display today and Watcombe showed in the end just why they are unbeaten in the league this season. They are a very strong physical side that are capable of taking their chances when they come along. Totnes were a bit light up front today and it cost them in the end, but the team has a number of very good players in the side who stuck to playing their football well.
The match referee got the game underway and Watcombe showed their intent and started the slightly better of the two sides. The first corner of the match fell to Totnes when Elliot Mcintosh was forced to head the ball behind. The corner came to nothing but the first real chance fell to Zach Norton wearing the number ten shirt for Totnes. He took a shot from the edge of the Watcombe box, but failed to get any real power on it to trouble Conner Rowlands in goal for Watcombe.
Totnes then had another chance to take the lead in the match. They won a corner that was fired into the Watcombe box; the ball was half cleared to the edge of the box and hit first time by Zach Norton. He hit a dipping volley that only just cleared the crossbar.
Watcombe then took the lead, a great low ball was fired towards the back post from the left hand side and Sam Payne got on the end of it and fired the ball home.
Watcombes lead did not last very long when Kingsley Burrows from inside the right hand side of the Watcombe box, hit a powerful shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net.
Six minutes later Totnes took the lead, a corner was fired into the box and knocked towards the back post where Ben Field was standing and he reacted the quickest and forced the ball home.
It did not take Watcombe long to get back onto level terms, but did the ball cross over the goal line? From my position I could not answer that question. The ball was in the Totnes box and then cleared away. It fell to Harry Gouldthorpe who was twenty five yards away from goal. He hit a low powerful shot at goal. Sam Davies dived low to make the save, but the ball went under his glove. He turned on the floor and got a hand on it and was convinced the ball had not gone in. But the goal was given despite his and other players protests.
That was it for the first half, all even which on the balance of play in my opinion was just about right result. It did not take Watcombe very long after the restart to take the lead again. Harry Gouldthorpe hit a shot from the edge of the Totnes box that the keeper got his hands too but could not prevent the ball going in.
Just seconds later Watcombe scored again, a ball over the top for Charlie Uniacke to run onto. He held off a defender and with just thee keeper to beat picked his spot and blasted the ball into the back of the net. Charlie had been a handful for the Totnes defence all during the first half and deserved his goal.
Totnes upped their game and were playing some neat passing football, was there a way back into the match for them? Zach Norton got a good head on the ball when it was fired high into the Watcombe box, but the ball flew over the crossbar.
Ben Field hit a powerful twenty five yard effort that had the keeper diving full length, but the ball just went wide of the left hand post. Totnes were working hard and now well on top in the game, reducing Watcombe to the odd breakaway.
From a Totnes corner a shot was fired at goal close in, Conner Rowlands pulled off a fine reaction save to help preserve his teams lead in the match. Jake Kneebone hit a good shot at the Watcombe goal from the edge of the box that went just wide, it was not to be Totnes day in front of goal.
The match referee blew up for the end of the match; I think it is safe to say Watcombe will make it through to the semi finals. Totnes still have three more games to play still in this cup and on today’s evidence could well join Watcombe in the semi‘s.
Many thanks to both team managers for all your help today, special thanks to Garry R Bridger for the very warm welcome, when I am brave enough to tackle Long Lane in my car again I will be back. Final thanks to match referee Ollie Abercrombie who I met for the first time today. Very helpful and did a great job in the middle with a smile on his face, so good to see a referee enjoying what he is doing.
