Spurs face a tough period after Vase exit

PENINSULA LEAGUE

When Newton Abbot Spurs applied for a place in the national FA Vase competition last season, they probably thought they had a good chance of going quite far.

However, after having a great campaign but just missing out on a title, finishing second in Division One East of the Peninsula League, there was an exodus of players over the summer, and it was a much weaker side that met Western League Division One team Cheddar on Saturday and they lost 2-0.

Spurs went to unbeaten Division One East leaders Elmore AFC last night – there won’t be many easy games for the management duo of Chris and Tim Porter this season with Torpoint Athletic and Stoke Gabriel, where some of Spurs’ key players went in the summer coming up too. It could be a rough ride for the brothers and their players.

Tim said: “Despite the defeat at Cheddar the team can be proud of the way it performed for the club’s very first ever outing in the FA Vase.

“Clearly, going into the game as underdogs we did well to prevent Cheddar from only scoring the two goals.

“Much to our credit we caused Cheddar some problems in the second half, especially when both Sam Hancox and Matt Churchill provided good support to Mark Voisey in attacking positions.

“Sadly we couldn't quite find or create the opportunity or space to pull a goal back.

“We stayed strong and the lads tirelessly worked through the final stages, desperately attempting to claw us back into the game.

“Full credit to Cheddar who were both great hosts and a very good footballing side.”

The Cheddar game, along with Elmore, form part of a very hard looking four-match period for Spurs.

Stoke Gabriel in the league and a tough trip to Premier Division outfit Torpoint in the League Cup are both coming up and the joint manager says these game will test his squad.

“It's going to be a real test of our young squads character and resolve, each game we continue to show more signs of improvement and togetherness and we hope this will continue over the next few games especially,” said Porter.

Player-manager Craig Duff watches as a chance goes begging in Buckland’s 1-0 FA Vase defeat at home to Newquay

Richard Hughes