Cup finals and league titles in the South Devon League

I start this week’s report with the sad news that popular South Devon Football League player Andy Curgenven has passed away at the age of 46 following a short illness.

Andy’s clubs included Barton Athletic and Harbertonford but more recently he had been turning out for Newton Rovers. A large number of clubs observed a minute’s silence before their fixtures and the whole South Devon football family send their condolences to Andy’s family.

The first Herald Cup semi-final was played on Wednesday at Buckfastleigh with Division Three underdogs Ashburton Association taking on the current Premier Division leaders Ilsington Villa in a local derby.

Most will know that the fairytale of a cup shock is over for Ashburton but a 6-0 defeat does not tell the whole story. The fact is it took the Premier Division leaders 27 minutes to break down the Ashes defence and it was only thanks to a Jamie Beer strike of the highest quality.

Villa controlled the whole game but it remained only 1-0 at the break and well into the second half. Ashburton attacks were few and far between and were quickly dealt with by a strong Moorland defence.

Once the second goal came on 65 minutes from Daniel Langford, you could see the Ashburton players thinking the task they were now facing was too much of an ask. Whilst the floodgates didn’t quite open, Ilsington Villa added four more from Jack Langford, Daniel Chadwick and Daniel Langford scored late on following a red card on an Ashburton defender. who looked frustrated after working hard all game.

Ilsington Villa now progress to only their second appearance in a Herald Cup final, the last one being in 1981 when they lost to Upton Athletic.

The other Herald Cup semi-final is on Wednesday, May 1 at Liverton United FC with a 6.30pm kick off. Last season’s losing finalist Newton Abbot 66 take on Newton Abbot Spurs in what should be a fascinating encounter.

The midweek games are well and truly underway and there were big wins for Paignton Saints in Division One, Bovey Tracey in Division Two and Liverton 2nds in Division Four.

Saints have now gone clear at the top of Division One after a 7-0 demolition of Buckland Athletic and Bovey now only need one more win to be crowned Division Two champions.

In Division Four, the season-long leaders Drake FC have been reeled in by Liverton, who can now go top with their next win following a 4-0 victory over Babbacombe Corries, a result that blows away the disappointment of losing the League Cup final last week.

Beesands Rovers beat East Allington 3-1 thanks to goals from Ashley Yeoman, Louis Brace and Sammy Lane, which may have put the Bees into fifth place in the Premier League but it leaves the Pirates perilously close to the bottom two with six games to play.

On Thursday evening, the first championship trophy was won and presented pitchside to a jubilant Bovey Tracey team, who again have taken their division by storm and remain unbeaten with two games to go.

On the night, they beat a young Paignton Villa team by 2-1, the opening goal by Matt Churchill came after just 16 seconds but that woke up the visitors, who really made the home team work for the victory. Harvey Veysey scored for the visitors but a Mark Perring strike was just enough to make the difference. Bovey can now look forward to life in Division One next season.

With almost another full programme of Saturday games, there were 119 goals scored across the divisions and a lot of them have an impact on promotion and relegation.

At the top of the Premier, Ilsington Villa are now just two points away from being crowned champions for the first time in their history. A 5 – 1 home win against bottom club Brixham AFC, thanks to a Jamie Soper hat-trick and singles from Jack Dixon and Matt Goodwin, has taken them within touching distance of being uncatchable.

This was brought forward by a week, as Kingsteignton Athletic were held by Waldon Athletic at Windmill Hill, 1-1 was the final scoreline. Lewis Eaton and Jason Jones were on target but the Rams could not find a winning goal.

Morley Rangers are now in pole position for the runners-up spot, a 5-4 victory at struggling East Allington Utd, thanks to a Corbin Mackin hat-trick and a double from Steven Rogers puts the Plymouth-based team in a good place.

The top of Division One continues to change every week. Now it looks like Ivybridge Town have got the wobbles, a 2-2 home draw versus Brixham Town leaves the door open for the top five clubs to remain in the hunt for a top two place.

Newton Abbot Spurs are one of those clubs with Premier Division ambitions, a 6-0 win over relegated Buckfastleigh Rangers Reserves keeps them well in contention, although they still have eight games to play in four weeks and being 10 points off second place, they need to get them played or it could go down to the last week.

Totnes and Dartington are in third place and are unbeaten in four games, in fact they only have four games to play, so if they can keep their good form going, they could be in with an outside chance. A 5-0 win at relegation threatened Babbacombe Corries leaves the home team needing four points from four games to stay in Division One.

The shock result in this division came in the Dartmouth Cup, where Buckland Athletic knocked out favourites Paignton Saints at Holmers Heath, a 2-1 win for the young Bucks sets up what must surely be called the friendly final against Paignton Villa on May 24 at Stoke Gabriel.

With the top spot in Division Two already claimed, somebody forgot to tell Bovey Tracey. A 2-0 home win versus Barton Athletic has put them 10 points clear at the top and just one game from completing an unbeaten season, credit must also be given to them for playing four games in seven days to get the job done. A massive well done from all of the South Devon League family.

Newton Abbot Spurs 3rds remain in second place and pre-season favourites Paignton Saints Reserves are just four points behind them with a game in hand. With two games to play, Spurs can get to 42 points with two wins, Saints can only get to 41 points with three wins, so it is going to the wire in this division as well. Although Saints last game is against Bovey Tracey!

In Division Three, the top five all won their games and all could get promoted, so it’s as you were with Watcombe Wanderers 2nds and Ashburton level on points with Totnes and Dartington reserves and South Brent in the chasing pack. Liverton Utd hitting the net 11 times against Waldon Athletic 3rds has now given them the second-best goal difference, which could be worth an extra point at the end of May.

In the Ronald Cup, Watcombe Wanderers 2nds made it through to their third cup final this season, a 5-1 home win against Totnes and Dartington reserves thanks to goals from Jamie Smith, Simon Ross, Harvey Hickman and Charlie Edwards securing their place in the league cup final to go with the Devon Intermediate cup and the Fred Hewings cup. Sounds like Garry Bridger may need to put up another shelf.

In Division Four, there are new leaders and for the first time this season, gameless Drake FC have been knocked off top spot by Liverton Utd reserves, a 4-1 win at Paignton Villa puts them two points clear with five games to play.

In the game of the day in this division, honours went to Elburton Villa 3rds, a 2-0 win at fellow promotion hopefuls Kingsteignton Athletic reserves has put a dent in the Rams’ hopes but they remain one of four teams in with a shout, although the games that Elburton Villa have in hand could be the difference.

There are some important games being played at the top and bottom of all divisions at the moment and here are my picks to catch them if you can.

Wednesday, May 1, Herald Cup semi-final at Liverton with a 6.30 pm kick off. Premier Division and last season’s cup final losers Newton Abbot 66 take on neighbours from Division One Newton Abbot Spurs, who themselves hope to be in the Premier Division next season, it should be a great game.

Friday, May 3, Lidstone Cup Final at Liverton FC 6.30 kick off. Bovey Tracey versus Paignton Saints reserves. Can Bovey win the double or will Saints be taking the League Cup back to Paignton?

In the league, most supporters will be heading to Ilsington just in case it’s the day they win the Premier League. Beesands Rovers will be trying to put off their celebrations for another week, kick off is 2.30.

Others will be at Liverton, where the top two in Division Four meet in what could be a tense affair with honours at stake. Some may even go to Coach Road to watch Paignton Saints take on Newton Abbot Spurs at the top of Division One.

Some great end of season football to watch across the South Devon Football League.