FAV Brixham AFC V Downton FC 2nd December 2023

[Dave]

The Isuzu FA Vase Third Round

Match Referee Rowan Clarke

Referee Assistants Dillon Gascoigne & Robert Fleetham

Final Score Brixham AFC 3 Downton FC 2

Attendance 152

Brixham AFC the pride of Devon, hard to believe the club which was formed by the merger of Brixham United and Brixham Villa 1n 2012 are where they are today. Life began for this new club playing in the South Devon Football league and here they are today playing in the Western League. They are not in this league to make up the numbers, but make a very bold and strong statement, this is where we belong.

Last season the club made history reaching the 5th round of the FA Vase and were so unlucky not to progress further in the competition. I covered their 4th round game against Raynes Park Vale, a London based club playing one step higher than Brixham. If the Raynes Park Vale players had thought all they needed do was turn up to win the tie, they received the shock of their lives. Brixham controlled the game from beginning to the end and won by two goals to nil.

In the 5th round Brixham had to travel to take on Coreshan and looked to have got the job done. But a very late equaliser took the game to a penalty shoot out which Brixham sadly lost, football can be a cruel sport at times.

Onto this seasons FA Vase and due to last season’s success, Brixham joined in the competition in the 2nd round. A long trip to take on Cowes Sport FC on the Isle Of Wight, Brixham returned to Devon as the victors winning the game by one goal to nil.

Brixham AFC are currently in 4th place in the Western League table, a great achievement in their very first season in this league. Today they face a team in very top from, a team looking to make new history of its own, another big test Brixham will need to pass.

Downton Village Wiltshire

Downton is a village and civil parish on the River Avon in southern Wiltshire, and is about about 6 miles southeast of the city of Salisbury. The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a large settlement of 131 households at Downton. Very interestingly in 1836, a time of continued agricultural hardship, the parish of Downton sponsored an emigration of more than 200 of its poor people to Upper Canada for opportunities there; they sailed in April 1836 on the ship King William.

In recent years the village has seen a surge in popularity after tourists have mistaken the village for the TV show location of Downton Abbey that was set over 200 miles away in Yorkshire. Visitors have been calling into the local pubs inquiring as to the whereabouts of Downton Abbey.

The village is also famous for its Cuckoo Fair that is held in May each year, sadly the 2023 event might have been the last one as the 2024 fair has already been cancelled due to a lack of volunteers and finance.



Downton Football Club.

Downton Football Club was formed in September 1905, following a meeting which had been arranged by the Rev J.H. Phillips. The club currently play in the Velocity Wessex League Division one ( step 6) and at the time of writing are in 2nd place in the league table, four points behind the league leaders Hamworthy Recreation, but they do have a game in hand over them.

This is the 2nd time in the clubs history it has reached the 3rd round of the FA Vase. In their first round game this season they were at home on the 21st October against New Milton Town and won the tie by five goals to nil. In the second round they faced a long trip to Saltash United on the 11th November and came away with a fine one nil win.

They have only lost one league game this season, winning twelve of the fourteen games played so far and come to Wall Park in very top form. Brixham will need to be at their very best if they want to be in the hat for the next round.




Brixham AFC last game was last Saturday in a league fixture at home against Welton Rovers FC, the game finished in a one all draw. With no midweek fixture the Brixham lads will be fresh coming into today's game and will have plenty of time to prepare for it. Downton FC were also in league action last weekend away to AFC Aldermaston and won the game by four goals to one. But unlike Brixham they have had a midweek fixture to play. a second round Southampton Senior Cup game away to the cup holders AFC Totton. Tickets were £5 for this game and if bought on line, you got a free hotdog, good value in my book. Downton FC lost the tie by three goals to one but gave AFC Totton plenty of problems and will hope they can do the same to Brixham.

Awaiting the winners of today's match is £1.125 in prize money with the losers picking up £350. This goes up in the next round and the club that wins the final pick up £30.000. I'm sure all clubs at this level would love such a payday.

A coach has been organised by the club for supporters who want to make the trip to Walls Park, it is a three hour trip each way.

The Route To Walls Park

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Today's Programme Cover

Match Report


I looked out of my window at 9am and everything was white, but the news was the Brixham AFC pitch had passed a pitch inspection and it was game on. The call was made to Downton FC “ come on down boys”

The Robins are a class outfit and made Brixham work hard for their victory and what a scare they gave then at the death. A game that looked won for Brixham at three nil up and great credit must be given to the Downton lads who fought right up to the final whistle.

The pitch that was damp underfoot was perfectly playable and while it was cold afternoon, at least some of the game was played in sunshine. This was such an entertaining game to watch and on the day Brixham were just that bit better than Downton. Stronger on the ball and always looking dangerous going forward and they created the better chances in the match.

Seconds before the kick-off the Robins captain said to his players, “come on lads lets make some history” while they were unable to do that, they can take so much credit from their performance today and now will be able to concentrate on winning the league they play in.

The match referee got the game and underway and Brixham started with real intent. In the very early stages of the match a few of the Downton players were guilty of making some over the top challenges and it was no surprise the referee decided to stamp down on it and showed the first yellow card to Alfie Hawke.

Brixham nearly took a very early lead in the match when from over twenty yards out Aaron Wellington hit a screamer of a shot at goal. The ball hit the far right hand post and somehow ran back across the face of the goal.

Aaron then got a second chance from the edge of the Robins box, but this time the shot lacked any real power and ended up an easy catch for Will Betts who was in goal for the Robins. Shortly after this Robins Regan Mason also found his name going into the referee’s notebook.

The Robins were playing long balls that were mostly dealt with by the Brixham defence, but from the edge of the Brixham box, Will Mackie hit a powerful goal bound shot that got defected over the crossbar for a corner. From the resulting corner Tom Rafferty got a good head on the ball but his effort cleared the crossbar.

Brixham’s Aaron Wellington made a good run down the right hand side and as he entered the right hand side of the Robins box he was hacked down. The referee pointed straight to the spot and Danny Gaze grabbed hold of the ball. The result was Brixham were now one nil up and on the balance of play fully deserved to be in front.

Brixham soon doubled their lead just three minutes later after a great run was made into the left hand side of the Robins box. The resulting shot was saved by the keeper but the ball came back to Jacob Chisholm hit an stoppable shot into the back of the net.

Brixham’s Aaron Wellington was the next player to be shown a yellow card, he felt he had cleanly won the ball, but that was not how the referee saw it. Once again tackles were getting far to tasty as both sets of players battled so hard to win the ball.

The Robins did have one good chance just before halftime to get a goal back. A ball fired high into the Brixham box from the right hand side of the pitch was headed by Joe Smith, but his effort went just wide of the left hand post.

That was it for the first half, Brixham two nil up but you still felt the Robins were still very much in the game and they started the second half very well. But the first real chance of the second half fell to Brixham’s captain Kieran Parkin. He hit a good low shot that was looking to go inside the right hand post, but the keeper did so well to get down and make the save.

The Robins Joe Smith had another headed effort from inside the Brixham box, but this time it lacked any power and was an easy catch for Grant Fisher.

Brixham’s Josh Parry went on a good run down the left hand side and cut into the Robins box close to the goal line. He got a half shot away that was pushed away by the keeper. Close in by the right hand post, Sean Adderley got on the end of the ball and blasted it at goal, but the keeper made another good blocking save.

Up the other end and another half chance fell to the Robins Joe Smith, this time a shot from just inside the box that went wide of the left hand post.

Brixham then scored their third goal in the match after a shot was taken by Kieran Parkin from inside the left hand side of the box. The keeper was able to push the ball away but it fell kindly for Cole Harford to fire home.

Within seconds of the restart the referee was pointing to the spot in the Brixham box. I did not see clearly what offence had been committed but the Robins captain Ryan Osman took the spot kick sending the keeper the wrong way.

At this point I did not think Brixham were in any danger, but the goal gave the Robins plenty of new hope. Sub Harrison Clarke got a shot away from the edge of the Brixham box, but it lacked any power to trouble Grant Fisher. The Robins then had a big shout for a second penalty that was not given.

Brixham’s Jacob Chisholm was rightly booked for pulling down a player who had just got passed in just inside the Robins half. Robins Harrison Clarke was also book for his reaction to the foul.

It was all the Robins now but time was running out and the Brixham defence were doing a good job at the back. Reece Somers was the next player to have his name taken.

The pressure on the Brixham defence finally paid off for the Robins as they gave themselves a small glimmer of hope of taking the game into a penalty shootout. A header at the Brixham goal was cleared out only to Tom Rafferty who struck the ball so sweetly and into the back of the net.

Unfortunately for the Robins there was only minutes left in the match and in that remaining time were not able to create another goal scoring opportunity. The match referee blew up for the end of the match and Brixham have reached the forth round again.